Lanark (Eastland) Preps

Eastland used a big runs in the second and third quarters to build a double-digit lead, then held of a furious Amboy rally for a 48-45 road victory Friday night to remain undefeated in NUIC South play.

With the season in the record books, it's time to meet the 2023 Sauk Valley Media All-Area Football Team.

Here is the 2023 Sauk Valley Media All-Area Baseball Team, along with the season's final stats leaderboard.

Here is the 2023 Sauk Valley Media All-Area Softball Team, along with the season's final stats leaderboard.

Harvest Day will be the first to tell you that she’s as competitive as they come. So it was no surprise that the Dixon grad come out strong and set the tone Thursday at the Sauk Valley Media All-Star Basketball Classic.

The Sauk Valley Media All-Star Basketball Classic is back, and it’ll be another bumper crop of talent on tap Thursday at Sauk Valley Community College. A total of 37 seniors – 19 girls and 18 boys – will suit up one last time in their high school uniforms.

It was another strong spring around the area on the softball diamonds in 2023, as four teams won regional titles and two teams advanced to the Sweet 16 or beyond. Here are a few of the more noteworthy achievements around the Sauk Valley this spring in softball.

Here we are again at the end of another successful high school sports year in the Sauk Valley – and 2022-23 was a doozy.

Led by a trio of first-team selections, 21 local softball players were named to the Illinois Coaches Association All-State Team, released Tuesday.

Several local league release their 2023 all-conference teams for spring sports.

The Newman 4x800 relay team moved up five spots from their finals seed to take sixth place Saturday at the IHSA Track & Field State Finals, while Morrison's Brady Anderson finished fifth in the 100 and two other locals earned eighth-place medals.

Forreston-Polo had a trio of athletes qualify for the finals in three events each. Michael Taylor moved on in the high jump, and also teamed with De’Angelo Fernandez, McKeon Crase and Noah Dewey to qualify in the 4x100 and 4x200 relays.

Nearly 40 area athletes qualified for the IHSA Class 1A Boys Track & Field State Meet in 17 out of the 18 events, but only a handful advanced to the finals out of Thursday’s preliminaries. Out of the plethora of state qualifiers, just 17 will compete on Saturday, in 11 events.

More than 40 Sauk Valley area track & field athletes punched their ticket to the IHSA State Finals in Charleston at the Class 1A Rockridge Sectional at Edgington High School on a windy Friday afternoon.

A four-run fourth inning propelled the Forreston baseball team to a 6-1 victory over Eastland in a Class 1A Forreston Regional semifinal on Thursday.

There were 13 area athletes who qualified for the finals at the IHSA Class 1A Girls State Track & Field Meet in Charleston during Thursday’s preliminaries, and they will compete Saturday in eight events.

Polo baseball took down Hiawatha and Oregon baseball edged Mendota in regional quarterfinal games, while Dixon softball dropped a tight home game to Stillman Valley on Monday.

The Sterling boys track & field team took second at the Western Big 6 Conference Meet on Friday at Augustana College in Rock Island, scoring 153 points to finish behind only United Township (159).

The Dixon baseball team clinched its fourth straight Big Northern Conference title on Thursday, as James Leslie pitched a one-hitter to lead the Dukes past Genoa-Kingston 9-0 on the road.

Seven area teams had athletes punch their tickets to next week's state meet at the Class 1A Erie Sectional on Wednesday at Wayne Hein Field.

Senior pitcher Katie Thatcher pitcher her first career perfect game Wednesday, sending the Rock Falls softball team past Oregon. The Sterling baseball & softball teams also won, and the Dixon & Rock falls baseball teams picked up BNC victories.

The Forreston-Polo boys track & field team finished second with 101 points, just one point behind team champion Lena-Winslow/Pearl City (102) at the Milledgeville Missile Invite on Monday at Floyd Daub Field.

Defending Class 2A state champion Alice Sotelo set another school record in the triple jump, and the Sterling girls track & field team won four events to take third at the Western Big 6 Meet on Friday at Roscoe Eades Stadium.

The Dixon, Rock Falls and Oregon baseball teams all picked up Big Northern Conference victories Thursday, while the Newman baseball & softball teams defeated Princeton. The Sterling and Rock Falls softball teams also notched league wins.

The Oregon girls track & field team took second place at the Big Northern Conference Meet on its own track Thursday night, while host Erie-Prophetstown was runner-up in the Three Rivers Meet, and Fulton took second in the NUIC Meet in Pecatonica.

The Dixon baseball team moved into first place in the Big Northern Conference with a 5-2 road win over Byron on Tuesday, while Newman rallied for a walk-off win with two runs in the bottom of the seventh against Mercer County.

Forreston-Polo, Oregon competed on April 28.

The combination of stellar competition, ideal weather, and running under the lights at Landers-Loomis Field buoyed Forreston-Polo, Milledgeville-Eastland and Newman to state-medal worthy performances at the Oregon Art Carlson Hawk Classic.

The Newman baseball team took control with six runs in the first inning and went on to defeat Mendota 8-4 in a Three Rivers East road game, while the Comets softball team rolled to a 14-3 win over the Trojans on the road. The Sterling softball team topped Rock Island 1-0.

The Oregon girls track & field team finished fourth at the eight-team Winnebago Invite on Thursday, while Milledgeville-Eastland edged out Amboy for the Du-Pec title, and Fulton finished first in Port Byron.

The Rock Falls softball team couldn’t hold off a late Stillman Valley rally, and the Rockets suffered their first Big Northern Conference loss of the season, falling 5-4 on the road Wednesday.

The Sterling girls track & field team Golden Warriors doubled up rival Rock Falls in a dual meet Tuesday at Hinders Field, winning all but three contested events in a 95-46 victory.

A walk-off single by Abigail Rogers with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning sent Oregon to a 4-3 win over Dixon in a Big Northern Conference softball game Tuesday afternoon at Oregon Park West.

The Milledgeville-Eastland girls track & field team took second at its own Dittmar Classic on Monday, while the Bureau Valley boys and girls both won titles at their own Senior Night Meet in Manlius.

Kyle Wolfe followed up last week’s perfect game with a one-hitter as the Newman baseball team defeated Mendota 10-0 in six innings in a Three Rivers East game Monday in Sterling, while Dixon baseball & softball and Rock Falls softball won BNC games.

The Rock Falls softball team exploded out of the gate in a nonconference game at home against Moline on Friday, taking control with a huge first inning on its way to a 16-5 victory.

The Newman baseball team scored a run in the fifth and another in the sixth to defeat Hall 2-1 in a Three Rivers East game Thursday in Sterling, while the Comets' softball team got contributions up and down the lineup in an 11-1, five-inning win over the Red Devils.

The Sterling softball team lost to Geneseo 9-7 in a battle of Western Big 6 unbeatens, while Rock Falls and Newman rolled to conference victories.

The Rock Falls boys and girls track & field teams both took home titles at the Ferris Invite on Tuesday in Princeton, while the Sterling boys and girls both won at the Sandwich Coed Meet, and the Dixon boys topped the field at the Oregon Open.

One pitch away from her second no-hitter in as many days, Newman junior pitcher Ady Waldschmidt had to settle for a two-hit shutout in a 5-0 win over the Dixon Duchesses on Thursday in Sterling. Meanwhile, Ellie Leigh pitched a no-hitter in Sterling's 10-0 win over Alleman.

The Sterling softball team took a late lead Wednesday afternoon, but Rockridge answered to pull out a 6-5 nonconference win in Edgington.

The Dixon baseball team jumped out to an early lead, then pulled away for a 12-2 win over Oregon on Tuesday in Oregon. Meanwhile, the Sterling softball team scored nine runs in the final two innings in a 10-0 win at home over Galesburg.

Led by two wins and two runner-up finishes by Adan Oquendo, the Rock Falls boys track & field team won the Oregon Quad on Tuesday at Landers-Loomis Field, topping the host Hawks 109-62. Meanwhile, the Sterling boys & girls both won duals against Dixon.

The Dixon baseball team and Rock falls softball team both scored in every inning except one in their 10-run victories on the road Monday afternoon.

The Rock Falls softball team had a pair of four-run innings in a 12-0, six-inning win over Big Northern Conference foe Winnebago in a road game Friday afternoon, while Oregon rolled past Eastland at home.

Here's a look at the local baseball teams for the 2023 season.

The Sterling girls track & field team won a Western Big 6 triangular at Geneseo on Thursday, while the Sterling and Rock Falls boys teams competed with Sycamore at a triangular at Roscoe Eades Stadium.

The Sterling softball team scored two runs in the top of the seventh to pull out a 4-3 win over United Township in a Western Big 6 game Thursday in East Moline, while Ana Kate Phillips hit for the cycle and drove in five runs in Dixon's 14-5 win over Byron.

The Dixon boys and Rock Falls girls track & field teams both placed second at the Dixon Open on Wednesday at A.C. Bowers Field, while the Sterling boys tennis team swept Freeport on the road.

The Dixon softball team scored early and often in a 15-1, five-inning win over Rockford Lutheran in their Big Northern Conference opener on Monday. Oregon softball also won its BNC opener, while Newman baseball & softball both beat BV, and Sterling softball downed DeKalb.