High School Sports

Here is a look at each Sauk Valley area baseball team for the 2025 season, including top returners, key newcomers and more.

New Kankakee head baseball coach Nick Crowe begins his first season as a varsity head coach prepared to face challenges that come with his new role, with an experienced staff to help him along the way.

Bishop McNamara's Callaghan O'Connor struck out every batter he faced and more in Monday's Daily Journal roundup.

Sterling's Drew Nettleton pitched a complete game, Newman baseball beat Fulton 11-9, Rock Falls softball won, Sterling boys and girls track and field both won, four Warriors competed at the Iowa-Illinois senior all-star basketball game and more in Monday's Sauk Valley roundup.

The Bishop McNamara softball team beat Peotone 6-2 on the road Monday for their first win of the season.

The Boilermakers scored five runs in the first inning and never looked back in Monday's nonconference tilt with Herscher.

A handful of schools competed at Reed-Custer's Comet Classic over the weekend, with Bishop McNamara leading the local boys and the host Comets leading the local girls.

Even after back-to-back trips to the state finals – and eight key players returning from last year’s fourth-place team in Class 2A – it still feels like the Newman Comets are trying to prove themselves this spring.

The Fightin' Irish came up a run short, Herscher won in walk-off fashion and more in Saturday's Daily Journal roundup.

Sterling baseball and softball both shut out Erie-Prophetstown, Oregon softball also improved to 3-0 and the Golden Warriors boys and girls track & field teams took second at the Warrior Invite in Saturday's Sauk Valley roundup.

Just minutes after Jocelyn Sanchez's equalizer, Kankakee freshman Jasmine Torres' last-minute goal gave the Kays a dramatic 2-1 win at Bishop McNamara, their first-ever win over the Irish.

Meet the 2025 Northwest Herald All-Area boys basketball team.

After leading McHenry to its first Fox Valley Conference championship and first conference title since 1976, Corky Card has been named the 2025 Northwest Herald Boys Basketball Coach of the Year.

Crystal Lake South senior point guard AJ Demirov is the Northwest Herald Boys Basketball Player of the Year for the second season in a row. He averaged 18.5 points and 4.6 assists per game in leading the Gators to a Class 3A sectional final.

Bishop McNamara senior Trinity Davis is this year's Daily Journal Girls Basketball Player of the Year.

The Daily Journal 2024-25 All-Area girls basketball team.

Ashlynn Durkin struck out 12 in a one-hit shutout for Downers Grove North softball, and Nazareth and Wheaton North softball and Riverside-Brookfield baseball were also winners in Friday's roundup.

The Bradley-Bourbonnais boys track and field team competed in the SouthWest Suburban Conference Boys Indoor Meet, placing ninth as a team, and more in Friday's Daily Journal Roundup.

Sterling's Braden Birdsley had a walk-off hit, Dixon baseball fell 15-1, Rockridge beat Newman, Fulton beat Morrison, Forreston won 14-12, Dixon, E-P, Bureau Valley and Oregon softball won and Rock Falls boys track & field won in Friday's Sauk Valley roundup.

Herscher's baseball and softball teams visited Kankakee on Friday and swept the Kays with a pair of big wins.

Former Kankakee football player Marques Easley, now a freshman at Georgia, was suspended indefinitely by the team Thursday following a vehicle crash

Here are five boys volleyball players to keep an eye on during the 2025 season in The Herald-News area.

A look at the 2025 Herald-News area boys volleyball teams.

Meet the 2025 Northwest Herald All-Area girls basketball team.

Huntley senior guard Anna Campanelli led the Red Raiders to a program-record 35 wins to start the season and its fourth straight Fox Valley Conference title. Campanelli is the 2025 Northwest Herald Girls Basketball Player of the Year.

Huntley's Steve Raethz led the Red Raiders to a program-record 35 wins and the fourth sectional championship in team history. Raethz is the 2025 Northwest Herald Girls Basketball Coach of the Year.

The Kankakee girls soccer team beat Reed-Custer 2-0 to win its season opener and more in Thursday's Daily Journal roundup.

Morrison pitcher Bella Duncan had 17 strikeouts but Sterling got the home win 5-4 as Lilly Martinez had a home run and got the pitching win in Thursday's Sauk Valley roundup.

The Bradley-Bourbonnais boys water polo team dropped a home contest against Andrew on Thursday, struggling defensively after a key player fouled out early on.

Dixon's Darius Harrington, Rock Falls' Kuitim Heald and Eastland's Adam Awender, Parker Krogman and Peyton Spears were named to the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association all-state team in their respective classes.

Here is the Suburban Life All-Area boys basketball team.

Hinsdale Central senior and South Dakota State commit Vincas Buzelis, who led the Red Devils to a 29-4 record that included a 25-game winning streak and a share of the West Suburban Silver title, is the Suburban Life Player of the Year.

Here is the 2024-2025 Record Newspapers all-area boys basketball team.

Yorkville Christian junior guard Jayden Riley, who led the Mustangs to 21 wins, the championship game of the Plano Christmas Class for the first time, and a regional final, and averaged 23 points, 8.5 assists and 4.5 rebounds, is the Record Newspapers Player of the Year.

Check out the Northwest Herald's team-by-team boys lacrosse preview for the 2025 season with top returners, key newcomers and information on each local team.

The Kankakee Community College baseball team opened the season by winning 15 of its first 18 games, with several former area high school baseball standouts among the team's contributors.

The Kankakee baseball team lost its season opener on Tuesday as St. Anne-Donovan's Carter Ponton flirted with a no-hitter, and more in Tuesday's Daily Journal Roundup.

Oregon's Emma Schlichtmann had a walk-off hit against Amboy, Bureau Valley beat Rock Falls, Eastland, A-FC and Forreston won, Rock Falls baseball won and more in Tuesday's Sauk Valley roundup.

The Newman Comets used a four-run rally in the top of the sixth, then shut down the Sterling Golden Warriors’ potential game-winning rally in the bottom of the seventh to pull out a 6-5 win over their intracity rivals on Tuesday at Gartner Park.

No. 9 hitter Lorenzo Zdanwic was 2 for 2 with a home run and three RBIs in Morris' 12-1 win over Bradley-Bourbonnais

The Bradley-Bourbonnais softball team beat Marian Catholic 12-0 Tuesday in the season opener, getting five shutout innings from Lydia Hammond.

Sterling junior Lily Cantu had a three-run home run and was part of a seventh-inning rally as the Golden Warriors opened the season with a 9-8 walk-off win over Newman.

The IHSA announced three significant changes to its classification policy Tuesday. Starting next school year, the IHSA will go back to using fixed classification cutoffs, change its multiplier waiver process and adjust its “Success Adjustment Policy.”

After several teams easily captured state titles after utilizing a multiplier waiver that allowed them to compete at lower classifications, the IHSA announced changes to both its multiplier waiver and success formula equations for the 2025-2026 athletic seasons.

Five returning Sauk Valley area baseball players to watch in 2025 include Rock Falls' Austin Castaneda, Newman's Evan Bushman, Forreston's Carson Akins, A-FC's Brock Lehman and Eastland's Hunter Miller.

Jacob Onnen had the go-ahead RBI single and earned the win on the mound and more in Monday's Daily Journal Roundup.

Spring sports kicked off as Newman baseball tied East Dubuque in eight innings, Fulton fell 2-1 in extras, Forreston beat A-FC 16-3, Aubrey Sanders had seven RBIs in a Forreston softball win, Rock Falls boys, Oregon girls track won and more in Monday's Sauk Valley roundup.

Bishop McNamara's Dom Panozzo and Callaghan O'Connor combined for 14 strikeouts and a shutout effort in a 3-0 opening day over a talented Wilmington team Monday.

Five returning Sauk Valley softball players to watch include Dixon's Bailey Tegeler, Polo's Cheyenna Wilkins, Fulton's Reese Germann, Morrison's Bella Duncan and Milledgeville's Kendra Kingsby.

Bishop McNamara had a historic basketball season, as both the boys and girls teams both made at least the round of 16 in the same year for the first time ever.