:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/shawmedia/EYZA5USG2VFNZBMXVBII62G22E.jpg)
Track and Field
Illinois Top Times Championships: Manteno freshman Klarke Goranson won a pair of state titles at the Illinois Top Times Championships on Friday and Saturday at Illinois Wesleyan University. She took first on the girls side in the Class 2A 800-meter run (2:13.59) and the 1,600-meter run (5:04.57), making her the only area athlete to place first in the meet.
Herscher’s Kelly O’Connor added more local representation to the girls 2A 800 meters, placing third with a time of 2:21.27. Elsewhere on the girls side, Iroquois West’s Audrey Griffin placed second in the 1A high jump at 1.58 meters. For Reed-Custer, Sophia Burciaga took fifth in the 2A pole vault (3.45 meters), and Alyssa Wollenzien tied for sixth in the high jump (1.52 meters).
Wilmington’s McKenna Van Tilburg placed sixth in the 1A 60 meter hurdles (9.85 seconds) and placed 17th in the prelims of the 1A 60-meter dash, while teammate Brooklyn Flores placed 13th in the 1A 3,200 meters. Bradley-Bourbonnais’ Nevaeh Brown placed seventh in the 3A 60-meter dash (7.91 seconds) and ninth in the 200 meters (26.12 seconds).
Peotone’s Terrynn Clott placed 16th in the 2A shot put. Central’s Lia Prairie qualified for the 1A shot put but did not compete.
On the boys side, Bradley-Bourbonnais’ Malachi Lee placed fifth in the 3A long jump (6.62 meters), while LyZale Edmon placed seventh in the 200 meters (22.90). Edmon also placed 14th in the prelims of the 60-meter dash, and he and Lee and placed 16th in the 4x200 relay with Jordan Fitch and Isaac Allison.
Watseka’s Andrew McTaggart placed ninth in the 1A 800 meters (2:04.11), while teammate Dennis Goodman placed 14th in the high jump. Bishop McNamara’s David Quigley placed 16th in the 1A 800 meters, and Willie Felton and Dashaun Whiters place 17th and 19th, respectively, in the 200 meters. Whiters also placed 25th in the prelims of the 60-meter dash.
St. Anne’s Aden Pinson placed 15th in the 1A long jump and 23rd in the prelims of the 60-meter dash. Central’s Brady Shule qualified for the 1A shot put but did not compete.
Baseball
Bishop McNamara 4, Rockridge 0: The Fightin’ Irish improved their season-opening streak to four games with a win in the first of two games Saturday in the Jacksonville Tournament. Preston Payne was lights out on the mound, allowing only two hits while recording nine strikeouts in five innings, while Braylon Ricketts struck out three in two hitless innings in relief.
The Irish offense scored two runs in the fourth inning and two in the fifth to provide all the support their pitchers needed. Dom Panozzo was 1 for 3 with two RBIs. Jacob Lotz was 1 for 3 with an RBI and a run scored, while Callaghan O’Connor was 0 for 2 with a walk, an RBI and two runs.
Bishop McNamara 6, Milford 0: The pitching staff kept on rolling for the Fightin’ Irish in Saturday’s second game in the Jacksonville Tournament. Jacob Lotz pitched five innings of one-hit ball to start, striking out six, before Colin Downs relieved him and recorded five strikeouts over two hitless innings. Bishop McNamara improved to 5-0, their fourth shutout victory of the season.
Taylor Fuerst was 3 for 3 with two doubles and two runs out of the leadoff spot. Devin Arbour was 1 for 2 with two RBIs, while Lotz, Max Rohr and Cooper Austiff each had an RBI.
Milford fell to 1-4 with the loss. Gade Vogel went 1 for 2 with the Bearcats’ lone hit. Caleb Clutteur struck out five batters over 3⅔ innings, allowing four runs. Hixon Lafond struck out three over 2⅓ innings, allowing two hits and two runs.
Manteno 6, Kankakee 5 (8 inn.): The Panthers managed to outlast Kankakee in a dramatic game Saturday to earn a walkoff win, improving to 5-0 on the season. Manteno led 5-1 entering the top of the seventh, but the Kays managed to rally for four runs to tie the game. The Panthers loaded the bases in the bottom of the eight, and Brady Hespen gave Manteno the win with a sacrifice fly, scoring Tyler Buehler.
Hespen was 2 for 2 with a walk, two RBIs and a run. Jake Wendling was 2 for 4 with a run, and Jake Stevens was 1 for 4 with a walk, three RBIs and a run. Andrew Norred allowed three hits and an unearned run over four innings, recording six strikeouts. Braden Campbell struck out five in two shutout innings, allowing two hits.
The loss dropped Kankakee to 1-4. Eli Stipp went 3 for 4 with an RBI for the Kays. Byron Wills was 1 for 3 with two walks, two steals and a run scored while Jaden Villafuerte was 1 for 2 with two RBIs and a run. Wills also had 10 strikeouts over 4⅔ innings, allowing five hits and five runs, four earned.
Reed-Custer 7, Oakwood 1: The Comets were victorious in the first of two games Saturday, improving to 4-1 on the season. Matt Kuban tossed five shutout innings, allowing just two hits, to lead Reed-Custer. Brady Tyree was 2 for 4 with two doubles, an RBI and two runs, while Landen Robinson was 2 for 4 with an RBI. Kaiden Klein went 2 for 3 with a double and a run.
Reed-Custer 8, El Paso-Gridley 4: There are not many better ways to win a baseball game than with a walkoff grand slam, and Thomas Emery now knows that firsthand. His grand slam in the bottom of the seventh in the Comets’ second game Saturday gave the team a win after El Paso-Gridley tied the game in the top of the inning. Reed-Custer improved to 5-1.
He also had a double on the day, finishing 2 for 2 with four RBIs and two runs. Alex Fierro was 2 for 3 with two RBIs and a run while Landen Robinson went 2 for 4 with an RBI and a run. Nolan Smith pitched all seven innings, allowing six hits while striking out seven.
Coal City 10, Beecher 3: The Coalers spread their scoring in the first game of a home doubleheader Saturday, scoring two runs in the first inning, one in both the second and third, and two runs each in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings. The win improved Coal City to 7-1, while Beecher dropped to 2-3.
The Coalers’ Gabe McHugh went 2 for 2 with two walks, an RBI and two runs. Dylan Young was 2 for 4 with two RBIs and a run. Connor Henline went 2 for 4 with a run and also got the win, pitching six innings while allowing eight hits and three runs.
For Beecher, Nicholas Fox, Steven Fezler and Kyler Clegg each went 2 for 3. Fezler had two RBIs and a run, Clegg had an RBI, and Fox scored a run.
Wilmington 11, Central 2: Ryan Kettman’s big day out of the leadoff spot helped propel the Wildcats to a home win over the Comets. Wilmington improved to 2-4, while Central dropped to 2-5.
Kettman was 2 for 4 with a double, a triple, three RBIs and two runs. Kyle Farrell was 1 for 3 with two RBIs, a run and two steals. Dierks Geiss was 1 for 2 with an RBI and also got the win, pitching four hitless innings with three strikeouts.
For Central, Blake Chandler, Derek Meier and Gage Pinson each had a hit, with Chandler and Meier scoring a run apiece. Jake Palmateer was 0 for 3 but drove in both Comet runs on a fielder’s choice in the sixth inning.
Herscher 11, Hoopeston 1 (5 inn.): Behind six RBIs from Logan Egerton on Saturday, the Tigers took down the Cornjerkers in five innings to improve to 5-1 on the season. Egerton was 3 for 4 with a home run, six RBIs and two runs. Cam Baker and Keegan Andre each went 2 for 3 with a walk, with Andre also scoring a run. Reed Laird allowed just four hits over five innings, striking out five.
St. Anne-Donovan 6, Watseka 3: The Cardinals improved to 5-1 with Saturday’s home win over the Warriors. Watseka fell to 0-5. No individual stats were immediately available for either team.
East Dubuque 11, Milford 1: Before their loss to Bishop McNamara in their second game of the Jacksonville Tournament on Saturday, the Bearcats took a loss to East Dubuque to fall to 1-4. Beau Wright, Caleb Clutteur and Colt Halpin all went 1 for 3. Aiden Frerichs took a pair of walks and scored Milford’s run on error in the bottom of the second inning that put the Bearcats up 1-0.
Softball
Bishop McNamara 12, Central 2: Josslyn Dole held the Comets to two hits Saturday to lead the Fightin’ Irish to a win at home. Bishop McNamara improved to 2-2, while Central dropped to 5-4.
Dole had six strikeouts in her five innings, allowing two runs in the fourth inning. Bella DeLuca went 2 for 3 with a double, two RBIs and two runs, while Gabby Burnett was 2 for 3 with two runs. Reagan Kaner went 1 for 3 with two RBIs.
For Central, Blair Bottorff was 1 for 2 with a run, while Mia Koch-Perzee was 1 for 1 with a walk and an RBI. Rayven Perkins also scored a run for the Comets.
Pekin 15, Kankakee 0: The Kays dropped the first game of a Saturday doubleheader on the road to fall to 2-5. Calleigh Moody, Madison Covington and Annika Van Heemst each had singles for Kankakee, while Kylie Glogowski took a walk.
Pekin 11, Kankakee 0: Madison Covington and Annike Van Heemst had hits again for the Kays in the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader, but Kankakee took another tough loss to Pekin to drop to 2-6. Kylee Cunningham and Adleigh Cunningham both walked.
Coal City 18, Plainfield Central 12: The Coalers picked up their first road win of the season in a slugfest Saturday in Plainfield. They scored 10 runs in the first inning and managed to outlast a comeback push from the Wildcats, never trailing in the 30-run game.
Khloe Picard was 4 for 5 with a home run, a walk, two RBIs and four runs. Juliana Covington was 3 for 4 with a home run, a walk, two RBIs and two runs, while Addison Hodgen was 2 for 5 with a home run, five RBIs and a run. The Coalers had 18 hits.
Girls Soccer
Bradley-Bourbonnais 1, West Chicago 0: The Boilermakers picked up their second win in a row with Saturday’s 1-0 victory to improve to 3-2. No individual stats were immediately available.