High School Sports

Chase Dykstra pitched a 3-hitter to send Fulton to Saturday's Class 1A Lena-Winslow Sectional final at 11 a.m. against River Ridge/Scales Mound, which came back to beat Eastland 5-4 on Wednesday.

Oswego East baseball rallied past Downers Grove South 5-3 in eight innings in a regional semifinal, and Plano softball lost its regional opener in Wednesday's Record Newspapers roundup.

Ashley Poquette scored three goals Wednesday to spark the offense for Downers Grove North in an 11-7 win over Naperville North in the sectional semifinals.

Johnsburg's storybook season added another chapter after the Skyhawks snapped Byron's 28-game win streak to advance to Saturday's Class 2A Mendota Sectional final against Newman.

Sterling scored three runs in the seventh inning to tie the game, then added another run in the ninth to rally for a 4-3 win over host Freeport in their Class 3A regional semifinal game Wednesday.

Newman had to grind out a 5-3 win against Marengo and pitcher Michael Kirchhoff to advance to Saturday's Class 2A Mendota Sectional final.

Seeded eighth in their eight-team sub-sectional, the Kankakee baseball team fought No. 1 Morris to the end, coming up on the wrong side of a 1-0 final. The Kankakee softball team also saw its season end in regional play in Wednesday's Daily Journal roundup.

In a back-and-forth Class 2A Seneca Sectional semifinal that saw four lead changes, it was Beecher who took the last one with a 7-5 win over Herscher Tuesday.

Peotone's girls soccer season ended in the sectional championship round Tuesday.

Tessa Krull struck out 11 in a four-hit shutout while Hayden Pfeifer's home run was part of a five-run sixth inning in Seneca's 6-0 win over Coal City in Tuesday's Class 2A Seneca Sectional semifinal.

Bradley-Bourbonnais beat Normal Community 8-0 in the IHSA Class 4A Bradley-Bourbonnais Regional semifinals on Tuesday, getting a two-hit shutout from Lydia Hammond and advancing to play for a fourth straight regional title on Friday against Rock Island.

Belvidere North pitcher Ava Morris struck out 13 Dixon batters in a 6-0 win as the Blue Thunder won a 17th straight game. Belvidere North faces Sterling in Friday's Class 3A Dixon Regional final at 4:30.

Sterling got back on track as Marley Sechrest's bat helped produce seven runs in a 13-2 win over Rochelle on Tuesday. The Golden Warriors advanced to face Belvidere North in Friday's Class 3A Dixon Regional final at 4:30 p.m.

Area athletes earned first place finishes in eight events at the IESA Track and Field State Championships held in East Peoria over the last two weekends.

Area basketball coach Alex Renchen will host his 815 Skills Camp next month.

Congratulations to The Times Athlete of the Week, Seneca girls track and field’s Lila Coleman!

Stevenson rallied in the fourth quarter to beat Lyons 6-5 for the school's third consecutive girls state water polo championship. Meanwhile, York's boys team took third and the girls took fourth.

A look back at the last week in sports in the Northwest Herald by photographers Gregory Shaver, and Patrick Kunzer for the Shaw Local News Network.

A look back at the last week in sports in the Northwest Herald by photographers Gregory Shaver, and Ryan Rayburn and Patrick Kunzer for the Shaw Local News Network.

Eastland's Hunter Miller pitched a complete game as the Cougars beat Milledgeville 8-4 for a regional title. Newman's Joel Rhodes finished second at sectional tennis, Sterling's Aron Rivera was third, Dixon girls soccer fell 4-0 and more in Saturday's Sauk Valley roundup.

West Carroll senior Emma Randecker prefers sprints. Not 5K races. Saturday, the Northern Iowa commit showed off her speed downstate, winning Class 1A titles in the 100-, 200- and 400-meter dashes in the IHSA Girls Track and Field State Meet. She broke 2 state records.

With a six-run first inning, the Fulton baseball team had enough cushion to hold off a Forreston comeback Saturday in the Class 1A Amboy Regional championship game.

The Manteno baseball team and Herscher softball team both won their regional championship games and more in Saturday's Daily Journal Roundup.

Bishop McNamara's Dom Panozzo shut out Herscher Saturday, striking out 17 and allowing two hits as the Fightin' Irish won their first regional in six years with a 5-0 win in Saturday's Class 2A Herscher Regional championship.

Byron scored in all but one inning, and Andrew Talbert allowed just four baserunners in a one-hitter in a 10-0, five-inning win over Oregon in Saturday's Class 2A Stillman Valley Regional championship.

After a second-half red card left Herscher shorthanded Saturday, Peotone got a goal from Allie Werner with 12:35 to go, giving the Blue Devils a 2-1 win in a dramatic IHSA Class 1A Coal City Sectional semifinal game against the Tigers.

Trailing Alleman by five runs going into the bottom of the sixth inning, Daniel Kelly's speech helped spark an eight-run rally as Newman held on to win 10-7 and earn a fifth straight regional title.

York's tennis team won its second consecutive sectional title but only after a third tiebreaker with Glenbard East was needed at the Class 2A Willowbrook Sectional.

Recent varsity call-up Brysen Meents hit his first high school home run in walk-off fashion and Lucas Rink tossed a gem as Wilmington topped Coal City 1-0 in the title game of the Class 2A Coal City Regional on Saturday.

Forreston-Polo edged defending state champion Winnebago by three points to win the Class 1A Oregon Sectional title on Friday. F-P and Oregon each had state qualifiers advance.

Sterling’s Abby Ryan and Kaelee Varden advanced to Saturday's state high jump finals. Sterling's Aron Rivera and Newman's Joel Rhodes qualified for state tennis, Milledgeville and Oregon softball fell in the regional finals and more in Friday's Sauk Valley roundup.

Evan Bushman earned the win as Newman held off Erie-Prophetstown to advance to Saturday's Class 2A Alleman Regional final. The Comets will face the Pioneers, who pulled away from Morrison in a 12-2 win.

Kankakee's bid for a regional championship repeat game up a game shy, as the Kays saw their season end at the hands of Oak Forest in Friday's Class 2A Kankakee Regional championship.

The Kankakee girls track team qualified for the state finals in the 4x100 relay, 4x200 relay and 4x400 relay and had Naomi Bey-Osborne qualify in the 400 meters, and more in Friday's Daily Journal Roundup

After falling behind 5-0 through two innings, Madi Petersen hit a three-run home run in the third and had the go-ahead RBI single as part of a four-run sixth that gave Coal City a 7-5 comeback win over Bishop McNamara for the Coalers' fourth straight regional title.

Beecher got three RBIs from Ava Olson and 12 strikeouts from Ava Lorenzatti to beat Wilmington 3-1 in the IHSA Class 2A Beecher Regional championship on Friday, winning its third straight regional title.

With eight runs in the first two innings of its Class 1A home regional final, the Fulton Steamers cruised to their second straight 20-win season and first postseason plaque since 2018.

Sterling scored three runs in the top of the seventh inning to come back and beat Dixon 3-2 on Friday afternoon at Veterans Memorial Field in Page Park.

Thanks to a combined six-hit shutout from Jacob Lotz and Preston Payne, Bishop McNamara's early surge was enough to get past Central in Thursday's Class 2A Herscher Regional semifinal.

Oregon's Bryce Becker got the win in a 3-0 shutout of Rock Falls, Morrison's Bella Duncan pitched a perfect game to open the postseason, Oregon walked off against E-P, Morrison track won a sectional title and more in Thursday's Sauk Valley roundup.

West Carroll's Emma Randecker posted the top times in the 100- and 200-meter dash in Thursday's preliminaries at state track. Forreston, Newman, Oregon and Fulton also had girls advance to Saturday's finals.

Dylan Young delivered a walk-off single in the seventh inning Thursday to give Coal City a comeback win over Reed-Custer in the IHSA Class 2A Coal City Regional semifinals.

Former McHenry boys basketball coach Tim Paddock has been named the new coach at Woodstock North. He has not coached since stepping down at McHenry in 2017.

Dixon and Sterling took second and third at Wednesday's Class 2A Rochelle Sectional as both schools, along with Rock Falls, finished the meet with multiple state qualifiers.

Wilmington pitcher Kyle Farrell did not allow a hit for the first 6 1/3 innings Wednesday, finishing with a one-hit shutout for the Wildcats in the IHSA Class 2A Coal City Regional semifinals, and more in Wednesday's Daily Journal Roundup

Bridget Bertrand's two-run homer highlighted a three-run McNamara ninth inning as the Fightin' Irish outlasted Manteno in an instant classic Class 2A Coal City Regional semifinal that started Tuesday and ended Wednesday.

Forreston and Fulton baseball advanced to face each other in Saturday's regional final. Eastland baseball also advanced, Sterling won, Milledgeville softball beat Eastland 11-10 and more in Wednesday's Sauk Valley roundup.

Coal City scored 12 times in the final three innings Wednesday to beat Joliet Catholic 14-4 in an IHSA Class 2A Coal City Regional semifinal contest.

Fulton’s Jessa Read, Kylie Smither and Haley Smither helped the softball team advance to the regional final before they hit the road for the start of Thursday's state track and field meet.

Here is a look at some of the top athletes and relays to watch from the Sauk Valley area competing in 1A and 2A at this weekend's state track and field meet.