Interstate 8, Illinois Central Eight release spring all-conference accolades

The Illinois Central Eight and Interstate 8 have released their spring all-conference teams for softball, baseball and girls soccer for the 2023 season.

Listed are the extended area’s all-league award winners from Ottawa, Sandwich, La Salle-Peru, Morris and Streator high schools.

Interstate 8

Softball: Conference champion Ottawa, runner-up La Salle-Peru and third-place Morris understandably were the most represented ballclubs on the 2023 All-Interstate 8 Team.

Ottawa senior pitcher McKenzie Oslanzi was selected as the Interstate 8’s Most Valuable Player and shared first-team honors with teammates senior Ryleigh Stehl, junior Kendall Lowery and sophomores Hailey Larsen and Maura Condon.

La Salle-Peru garnered four first-team selections – seniors Cloe Mitchell and Taylor Martyn as well as juniors Addie Duttlinger and Ava Lambert.

Morris had three first-teamers in senior Addison Stacy, senior Ella Davis and junior Elaina Vidales.

Sandwich’s two first-team picks were sophomore Audrey Cyr and senior Breanna Sexton.

The rest of the first team included Sycamore’s Tia Durst, Brooklynn Snodgrass and Kairi Lantz; Kaneland’s Mackenzie Hardy, Rochelle’s Morgan Smardo and Plano’s Lindsey Cocks.

Honorable mention status went to: from Sandwich – senior Alexis Sexton and senior Allison Olson; from Morris – senior Kylee Claypool and freshman Alyssa Jepson; from La Salle-Peru – senior Ava Lannen; and from Ottawa – senior Brynne Sember and junior Peyton Bryson.

Baseball: Conference champion Morris was most decorated on the 2023 All-Interstate 8 Conference Team, highlighted by Most Valuable Player Jack Wheeler, a sophomore University of Illinois commit who delivered the walk-off RBI single against runner-up Sycamore to clinch the league title.

Joining Wheeler on the first team are teammates Nazim Baftiri, AJ Zweeres, Cody DelFavero and Griffin Zweeres.

Fourth-place La Salle-Peru, fifth-place Ottawa and tied-for-seventh Sandwich each had one first-team selection – Mason Lynch for the Cavaliers, Rylan Dorsey for the Pirates and Austin Marks for the Indians.

The rest of the first team was filled out by Sycamore’s Tommy Townsend, Jimmy Amptmann, Kiefer Tarnoki and Kyle Hartmann; Kaneland’s Parker Violett, Alex Panico, Zach Konrad and Johnny Spallasso; Rochelle’s Colton O’Rorke; and Plano’s Kaden Aguirre.

Among those earning honorable mention all-conference honors were Sandwich’s Chance Lange and Hunter Pavia; Ottawa’s Payton Knoll, Julian Alexander and Ryan Chamberlain; L-P’s Billy Mini and Brendan Boudreau; and Morris’ Brett Bounds and Will Knapp.

Girls soccer: Conference champion Kaneland and runner-up Sycamore dominated the all-conference honors in girls soccer, although Morris and La Salle-Peru – who tied for third place – and sixth-place Ottawa were also represented.

For L-P, junior midfielder Danica Scoma, junior defender Veronica Hein and junior striker Katie Sowers were named to the first team, with sophomore defender Andrea Leyva given honorable mention.

For Morris, first-team accolades went to senior defender Abigail Henson, junior forward Ella McDonnell, senior forward Emma Aldrich and sophomore midfielder Danica Martin. Sophomore defender Makensi Martin received honorable mention.

For Ottawa, senior forward Morgan Clements was voted to the first team, with honorable mention going to senior defender Lauren Podman, senior forward Ryley Jett and freshman defender Taylor Brandt.

Illinois Central Eight

Girls soccer: Five Streator players earned All-Illinois Central Eight Conference accolades for the 2023 season after the Bulldogs finished tied with Peotone for second place behind ICE champion Herscher.

Junior defender Josie Goerne, senior forward Anna Russow, senior midfielder Ellie Isermann, senior forward Bella Dean and senior midfielder Bridget McGurk were Streator’s All-ICE selections.

Baseball: Four Streator baseball players – three seniors and one junior – were selected for all-conference honors after the regional champion Bulldogs’ fourth-place run through the league.

Junior shortstop/pitcher Christian Benning, senior pitcher/middle infielder Adam Williamson, senior infielder/pitcher Parker Phillis and senior outfielder Brady Grabowski were voted All-ICE.

Softball: A quartet of Bulldogs were awarded all-league honors after the team finished tied for fourth in the league standings.

On the All-ICE Team from Streator are senior catcher Kadence Ondrey, junior outfielder Lily Kupec, sophomore pitcher Makenna Ondrey and junior utility player Mya Zavada.