April 02, 2025
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Manteno baseball stays unbeaten to start season: Monday’s Daily Journal roundup

By Adam Tumino and Mason Schweizer
Manteno's Connor Harrod slides safely into home as Peotone's Everett Carder fields a late throw in the third inning of Monday's game.

Manteno's Connor Harrod slides safely into home as Peotone's Everett Carder fields a late throw in the third inning of Monday's game. (Nicholas Holstein)

Baseball

Manteno 12, Peotone 2 (5 inn.): The Panthers kept their unbeaten start to the season alive with a five-inning win at home Monday over rival Peotone. Manteno improved to 6-0, while Peotone fell to 2-3.

Manteno had six hits, but also worked nine walks and took advantage of six Blue Devil errors to get their runs. Tyler Buehler was 1 for 3 with a walk, an RBI and two runs scored out of the leadoff spot. Andrew Norred was 1 for 2 with two walks, an RBI and a run, while Braden Campbell was 1 for 2 with a double, two RBIs and a run. Connor Harrod was 2 for 3 with two RBIs and a run, and pitched 3⅔ shutout innings, allowing two hits with six strikeouts.

Peotone had hits from Ruben Velasco and Josh Barta. Tyler Leitelt was 0 for 2 with a walk and a run. Everett Carder worked two walks and scored a run.

Wilmington 1, Reed-Custer 0: In a battle of Illinois Central Eight Conference aces, Wilmington and Lucas Rink were able to scrape by the Comets and Brady Tyree when Cooper Holman scored on a Comets error in the bottom of the seventh. Rink allowed one hit and walked one in his eight-strikeout shutout. Tyree was tagged with the tough-luck loss after allowing an unearned run on two hits, four walks and five strikeouts in a complete game.

Zach Ohlund and Declan Moran had the hits for Wilmington (3-4). Tyree had the only hit for the Comets (5-2).

Herscher 7, Streator 0: Peyton Young was nearly unhittable for the Tigers, allowing a hit, two walks and fanning eight over six shutout innings to help Herscher improve to 6-1. Young was one of four Tigers with two-hit days, finishing 2 for 4 with a pair of runs. Gaige Brown had the same stat line, plus two stolen bases. Keegan Andre was 2 for 3 with a double and two RBIs. Nash Brubaker was 2 for 3 with a walk, a run and an RBI.

Coal City 14, Lisle 10: The Coalers extended their winning streak to six games with Monday’s road win in their Illinois Central Eight Conference opener. They improved to 8-1. Lance Cuddy was 1 for 3 with a solo home run, a walk and three runs out of the leadoff spot. Gabe McHugh was 2 for 4 with an RBI and three runs, while Connor Henline was 2 for 4 with a walk and three runs. Ethan Olson was 2 for 4 with two walks, four RBIs and three steals. Ben Watson got the win, allowing only one hit over two shutout innings in relief.

Paxton-Buckley-Loda 6, Milford 1: Aiden Frerichs, Colt Halpin and Gage Vogel had hits for Milford (1-5) Monday. Halpin’s fifth-inning single brought home Lucas Summers for the lone Bearcats run. Beau Wright was tagged with the loss after allowing two earned runs on two hits and four walks in the first inning. Hixon Lafond performed admirably in relief, allowing an earned run on three hits and no walks while striking out four in 3⅓ innings.

Girls soccer

Herscher 4, Bishop McNamara 0: Gianni Jaime and Claire Chinski had two goals apiece to help the Tigers (5-0-1) down their nonconference rivals Monday. Jaime had an assist, as did Gianna High, while Sophie Venckauskas had a pair. Danica Woods had five saves

No individual stats were available for the Fightin’ Irish (0-2).

Joliet Catholic 5, Peotone 3: No individual stats were available for Peotone (0-2).

Softball

Manteno 1, Peotone 0: Two of the area’s top pitchers put their talents on display on Monday, with Ava Peterson and host Manteno getting the better of rival Peotone and Sophie Klawitter. Peterson allowed just two hits over seven shutout innings, recording 14 strikeouts and two walks. She also had the only hit and run for Manteno, singling in the bottom of the fourth, stealing second and third, and scoring on a wild pitch. The Panthers improved to 4-0.

Peotone fell to 2-2 with the loss. Klawitter allowed just the one hit and one run over six innings. She had 11 strikeouts and did not walk a batter, although she worked a pair of walks at the plate. Abigail Christenberry was the only Blue Devil to get a hit off Peterson. She was 2 for 2 with a double and single.

Bradley-Bourbonnais 1, Plainfield South 0: Lydia Hammond recorded her third shutout of the season Monday, first to go all seven innings, in a game where the Boilermakers needed that kind of performance. They managed just three hits as a team, scoring their lone run in the second when Olivia Woolman singled and scored on an error. Woolman was 1 for 2 with a walk, while Tristin Woods and Suttyn Hop both went 1 for 3.

Hammond allowed just two hits in seven innings and recorded 13 strikeouts without walking a batter. Bradley-Bourbonnais improved to 6-1.

Marian Catholic 5, Bishop McNamara 4: The Fightin’ Irish dropped a heartbreaker on the road Monday, losing a late 4-3 lead by allowing a run in the bottom of the sixth and a walkoff run in the bottom of the seventh. They fell to 2-3.

Teagan McCue was 1 for 4 with a two-run home run that gave the Irish a 4-3 lead in the top of the fifth. Vivian Dole was 2 for 3 with a run, while Rhaya DePaolo was 1 for 4 with a double, an RBI and a run. Gabby Burnett was 1 for 2 with an RBI.

Wilmington 12, Reed-Custer 0 (5 inn.): Wilmington’s Taryn Gilbert allowed only one hit at home against the Comets on Monday, but also had just one strikeout as the Wildcats played errorless defense for five innings behind her. Wilmington improved to 6-1, while Reed-Custer dropped to 2-2.

Molly Southall was 1 for 3 with two walks and a three-run home run for the Wildcats. Nina Egizio was 1 for 2 with a walk and a two-run home run. Keeley Walsh was 2 for 2 with a walk and two runs scored. In the circle, Gilbert needed just 37 pitches to get through the five-inning game.

For Reed-Custer, Kamryn Wilkey went 1 for 2 as the Comets’ only base runner. Sophia Moyers allowed just two hits and three runs over three innings in relief, recording four strikeouts with one walk.

Central 10, Watseka 0: The Comets scored one run each in the second, third, fourth and fifth innings before erupting for six runs in the sixth to pull away from the Warriors on the road Monday. Sydney Jemar pitched all six innings, allowing four hits and striking out eight. She also went 2 for 3 with a solo home run. Lia Prairie also hit a home run, going 1 for 3 with a walk, two RBIs and a run. Rayven Perkins was 3 for 4 with two RBIs and two runs as Central improved to 6-4 on the season.

Watseka fell to 1-4 with the loss. Sarah Parsons, Ainsley Urban, Thayren Rigsby and Rennah Barrett each had a hit for the Warriors, with Urban and Barrett each hitting a double.

Milford-Cissna Park 13, Paxton-Buckley-Loda 4: Addison Lucht had a big sixth inning for the Bearcats on Monday at home. She hit a three-run home run after the first two batters of the inning reached, and then with two outs in the inning, hit a double to drive in three more runs. The Bearcats scored nine runs in the inning to break a 4-4 tie.

Lucht was 2 for 2 with three walks, six RBIs, two runs and a steal. Lille Harris was 2 for 4 with two doubles, an RBI and two runs, while Jossalin Lavicka was 2 for 2 with three walks and three runs. Kami Muehling got the win allowing five hits over seven innings while recording nine strikeouts.

Streator 10, Herscher 2: After back-to-back wins, the Tigers took a home loss Monday to fall to 5-2. Anistin Hackley was 1 for 2 with a double, a walk and an RBI while also pitching five innings, allowing five runs (two earned) and striking out five. Keira Ahramovich went 1 for 3 with a walk, an RBI and a run, while Lilly Tucek was 1 for 3 with a run.