SportShorts for Saturday, June 11, 2022

Baseball coaches release small-school all-state teams

A pair of local players were selected to the Class 1A All-State team by the Illinois High School Baseball Coaches Association, the group announced Friday.

Newman sophomore pitcher/right fielder Brendan Tunink and Fulton senior pitcher/center fielder Drew Dykstra were named to the 18-player team in Class 1A.

Byron junior pitcher/shortstop Braden Smith was a 2A all-stater.

The IHSBCA will announce its 3A and 4A all-state teams next week.

Rodriguez helps Team USA sweep pool play

Former Sterling volleyball standout Lexi Rodriguez and Team USA went 3-0 in pool play and have advanced to the medal round at the U21 Pan American Cup in La Paz, Mexico.

Rodriguez, serving as the team’s captain, has led the U.S. in digs in each of its three matches. The Nebraska star libero had 18 digs in a 3-0 win over Costa Rica on Tuesday, then 11 in a 3-0 win over Canada on Wednesday. She had 19 digs in a 3-1 win over Argentina on Thursday to complete Team USA’s run through pool play.

The U.S. opened with a 25-8, 25-4, 25-8 win over Costa Rica, leading the match in aces (14-0), kills (39-10) and blocks (7-0). Team USA then beat Canada 25-17, 25-19, 25-22, scoring 29 points on errors and pulling away in each set when the scoring reached double-digits.

The win over Argentina was much closer, as the U.S. lost the third set and trailed in the fourth before pulling out a 25-16, 25-21, 22-25, 27-25 victory, and leading the match in kills (59-41) and blocks (15-9).

After winning the first two sets, Team USA led 18-12 in the third before Argentina took control with a 10-1 run. In the fourth set, Argentina led 11-6, then had game point twice – at 24-23 and 25-24 – before the U.S. scored the final three points to finish it off.

Team USA will play a quarterfinal winner at 9 p.m. Saturday.