Area Roundup: Pirates tennis captures Interstate Eight Conference Tournament title

OTTAWA - The Ottawa boys tennis team has been the class of the Interstate Eight Conference this season.

That didn’t change Tuesday in the I-8 Tournament hosted by the Pirates.

Ottawa’s varsity netters won eight of 10 matches they competed in to run away with the I-8 Tournament title. That included Adam Gross at No. 2 singles (6-1, 6-2 and 6-2, 6-1), Sam Walker and Regan Linde at No. 1 doubles (6-0, 6-0 and 6-3, 6-0), Tanner Ditchfield and Will Goetz at No. 2 doubles (6-4, 7-6 [3] and 6-3, 6-2), and Logan Goetsch and Daniel Reinhardt at No. 3 doubles (6-1, 6-0 and 6-3, 6-3).

Ethan Krafft at No. 1 singles was defeated in his two matches by identical 6-1, 6-2 scores.

Mendota 3, Streator 2: At Mendota, the visiting Bulldogs received wins at No. 1 doubles courtesy of Max Baker and Cooper Wahl (6-1, 6-4) and at No. 1 singles courtesy of still-undefeated Davey Rashid (6-0, 6-2), who is now 13-0 on the season heading into Saturday’s Ottawa Class 1A Sectional.

Softball

WFC 6, Marquette 2; WFC 5, Marquette 4: At rural Streator, host Woodland/Flanagan-Cornell (13-6) swept a Tri-County Conference doubleheader from the Crusaders (8-8).

The opener saw Audrey Jenkins (two hits), Sydnee Plesko (two hits, two RBIs), Cloee Johnston (two hits) and Shae Simons (three hits, RBI) lead the Warriors attack, with Simons (7 IP, 2 ER, 5 K) hurling the win. For Marquette, Eva McCallum (two RBIs), Kaylee Killelea (three hits) and Emma Rinearson (two hits) led the offense, with Killelea (6 IP, 1 ER, 5 K) suffering the pitching defeat.

In the nightcap, Marquette led early powered by two hits and two RBIs from Killelea and one RBI apiece from Maisie Lyons and Addie McConnaughhay, but WFC took control in the fourth with an offense led by Ella Sibert (single, double, home run, three RBIs), Simons (two hits, RBI) and Johnston (two hits). Kortney Harms (4 IP, 0 ER, 1 K) pitched the win, with Simons (3 IP, 0 R, 2 K) notching the save. Lauryn Rayburn (2 IP, 2 ER) suffered the pitching loss.

Ottawa 3, Sterling 2 (11 inn.): At King Field, Zoe Harris delivered an 11th-inning, walk-off RBI to end a marathon thriller between the former conference rivals and send the Pirates to 20-4 on the campaign heading into Friday’s home regional championship.

Abi Claus also tallied an RBI for OHS, with Ryleigh Stehl and Cassie Turk providing two hits apiece — Turk’s both doubles.

McKenzie Oslanzi (10 IP, 0 ER, 12 K) started for Ottawa, with Kendall Eslinger (1 IP, 0 R, 1 K) earning the relief win.

Baseball

Marquette 10, WFC 0 (5 inn.): At Masinelli Field, the host Crusaders (13-2) led from the get-go, with Luke Couch (2 IP, 0 R, 3 K), Logan Nelson (2 IP, 0 R, 5 K) and Shane Reynolds (1 IP, 0 R, 0 K) combining on the no-hit shutout.

Nick Melvin (single, two doubles, RBI), Luke Couch (three RBIs), Reynolds (two TRBIs) and Hayden McKenna (two singles) paced the Marquette offense, which scored in four of its five innings at bat.

Xander Boyles (2 IP, 6 ER, 0 K) suffered the pitching loss for Woodland/Flanagan-Cornell.

Earlville 13, Leland 9: At Leland, the visiting Red Raiders (5-9) received two triples and an RBI off the bat of Jeremy Weymouth, a hit and three RBIs from Jake Pickert, two hits and two runs batted in courtesy of Griffin Cook and two singles and an RBI from Mason Shannon, who was also the winning pitcher (2 IP, 1 ER) in relief.

Jimmy Faltz had two hits and two RBIs for Leland (0-14), with Triston McLaughlin homering.

Seneca 10, Midland 1 (5 inn.); Seneca 14, Midland 4 (5 inn.): In Tri-County play, the Irish (13-6) swept the twin bill, with Gage Cryder (1 IP, 0 R, 2 K) and Noah Quigley (2 IP, 0 ER, 4 K) pitching the wins.

Cole Hintze (three RBIs), Cryder (two RBIs) and Levi Maierhofer (two hits, RBI) led the offense in the opener. Brayden Roe (single, homer, five RBIs), AJ Stiegler (two RBIs) and Quigley (two RBIs) stood out offensively in the nightcap.

Wrestling

Sandwich 38, Seneca 34; Seneca 49, Rockford East 24; Sandwich 36, Seneca 31: At Sandwich, the Indians won both of their matches in a triangular, including snapping Seneca’s long win streak.

Two-win days for Sandwich were put in by Corder Miles at 120/126 (forfeit, pinfall), Evan Reilly at 138 (10-4 dec., 6-2 dec.), Nolan Bobee at 145 (pinfall, 7-0 dec.), Aidan Linden at 152 (15-0 tech. fall, pinfall) and Alex Alfaro at 195 (pinfall, 11-5 dec.).

Two-win Seneca performances included Owen Feiner at 138 (6-2 dec., pinfall), Jaden Casey at 120 (9-1 dec., 10-6 dec.) and Kyler Hahn at 106 (two forfeits).

Frosh/soph boys tennis

Corsairs claim I-8 title: In the Interstate Eight Conference Tournament, Ottawa rolled behind first-place finishes from Sebastian Cabrera at No. 1 singles (10-1 and 10-2 victories), Ethan Hancock/Zander Houk (10-6 and 10-4) and Landen Thorsen/Ryan Salas at No. 2/3 doubles (10-3, 10-3, 10-8).

Taegwon Eom and Ethan Cela added a runner-up finish in 2/3 doubles.