Sterling grabbed the lead in the top of the first and rode Eli Penne’s gem to a 2-0 victory over rival Dixon in their Class 3A Sterling Regional semifinal Wednesday at Gartner Park.

Rock Falls scored in each of the first five innings, and Carter Hunter pitched 4 2/3 innings of scoreless relief in a 9-5 win over Erie-Prophetstown in Wednesday night’s Class 2A Rock Falls Regional semifinal.

Chase Dykstra pitched a perfect game with 15 strikeouts to send Fulton baseball to Saturday's regional final. Forreston baseball won, Eastland beat Milledgeville and Oregon softball fell against North Boone in Wednesday's Sauk Valley roundup.

Richmond-Burton faces Johnsburg in a Class 2A Johnsburg Sectional semifinal baseball game on Wednesday, May 27, 2026 at Johnsburg High School.

Alex Panos' no-hitter highlighted Lincoln-Way Central's regional win and more in Wednesday's Herald-News roundup.

Maddie Simms had 17 strikeouts to lead Gardner-South Wilmington softball to a win in the IHSA Class 1 Indian Creek Sectional semifinals, Clifton Central baseball walked off Momence in the 1A Clifton Central Regional semifinals and more in Wednesday's Daily Journal roundup.

The Boilermakers got home runs from Elise Munsterman and Avery Moutrey, but a pair of Mea Johnson homers and a three-run sixth inning helped East Moline United upset Bradley-Bourbonnais in Wednesday's Class 4A Bradley-Bourbonnais Sectional semifinal.

Minooka has seen its season come to an end in each of the previous two seasons at the hands of Bradley-Bourbonnais. The Indians made sure it wouldn't happen a third consecutive time, breezing to a 12-3 win in the Bradley-Bourbonnais Class 4A Regional semifinal round.

Minooka bested Bradley-Bourbonnais for a 12-3 victory in the Class 4A Bradley-Bourbonnais Regional semifinals on Wednesday, May 27, 2026.

Ben Auer and Landon Paul combined to strike out 10 batters in a two-hit shutout to lead St. Charles North, which scored twice in the third inning to beat Dundee-Crown 3-1 in an IHSA Class 4A regional semifinal baseball game Wednesday evening.

Beecher's softball team picked up a 4-1 win over Pontiac in Wednesday's IHSA Class 2A Pontiac Sectional semifinals, setting up a clash with fellow perennial powerhouse Seneca in the sectional championship for the third year in a row.

Embracing being pushed up a class, the Newman baseball team won its Class 3A postseason debut after an 8-0 regional semifinal win at Belvidere. Michael Morse and Liam Nicklaus pitched the combined shutout, and Garet Wolfe had four RBIs.

Hiawatha and Hinckley-Big Rock both were shutout in regional semifinals as their seasons came to and end.

The IHSA boys track and field state meet takes place Thursday through Saturday at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston. Here is the full list of state qualifiers from the Sauk Valley area. Dixon is chasing a state trophy in 2A and Morrison is the defending 1A champion.

Milledgeville made one last furious rally before falling just short against Dakota in an 8-6 loss in the Class 1A Eastland Sectional semifinals.

Fulton's Zoe Kunau picked quite the moment to launch her first career home run. Kunau hit a two-run walk-off blast to send the Steamers into Friday's Class 1A Eastland Sectional softball final against Dakota.

Lemont knocks off Mother McAuley in softball sectional semifinals and more in the Herald-News Tuesday Roundup.

Five Johnsburg players scored goals in a 6-1 win over Cristo Rey St. Martin, while Richmond-Burton's season ended with a 3-0 loss to Willows Academy in the Class 1A Cristo Rey St. Martin Sectional semifinals on Tuesday.

Ava Lambert scored a pair of goals to help Plainfield Central top Sycamore 3-1 on Tuesday in a Class 3A Orion Sectional semifinal.

Johnsburg faces Cristo Rey St. Martin in an IHSA Class 1A Cristo Rey St. Martin Sectional semifinal girls soccer match on Tuesday, May 26, 2026 at Cristo Rey St. Martin College Prep, in Waukegan.

In a Class 1A Hinckley-Big Rock Sectional semifinal, the top-seeded Cogs’ season came to an end with the loss to the No. 4 Royal Lions. Genoa-Kingston finishes the season 17-4-1.

Cameron Abordo, who recently returned from a hip injury, scored five goals to lead Huntley's boys lacrosse team to a 13-4 win over Crystal Lake South in a semifinal of the Marian Central Sectional on Tuesday in Woodstock.

In the regular-season finale for both teams, Beecher got three hits and RBIs from both Chase Maher and Noah Hanson to best Gardner-South Wilmington in Tuesday's Daily Journal roundup.

Five different Geneva girls soccer players scored in the Vikings’ 6-0 win over Ottawa on Tuesday in a Class 2A Orion Sectional Semifinals. The goals came from mostly different sources, but half of them originated from Bridget Burke.

Junior high track and field athletes from across the area claimed 10 state titles spanning classes 1A through 4A at the IESA state meets held over the last two weekends in East Peoria.

Richmond-Burton faces Willows Academy in an IHSA Class 1A Cristo Rey St. Martin Sectional semifinal girls soccer match on Tuesday, May 26, 2026 at Cristo Rey St. Martin College Prep, in Waukegan.

Meet the Daily Journal Athlete of the Week, Bradley-Bourbonnais senior baseball player Eric Rainbolt.

Rock Falls senior Kayla Hackbarth is the Sauk Valley Athlete of the Week, presented by Loescher Heating and Air Conditioning. She had a season-best discus throw at the state track and field meet, where she took 13th. Here is a Q&A with her.

Plainfield South and Bolingbrook baseball both won extra-inning thriller to open the IHSA postseason, Joliet Central, Reed-Custer and Plainfield East won play-in games, plus more in the Herald-News Monday Roundup.

Morrison's Noah Robbins and Gage Wilson each had three RBIs in a 10-0 win over Stark County to open the baseball postseason. Bureau Valley and West Carroll also advanced to the regional semifinals in Monday's Sauk Valley Roundup.

Dundee-Crown senior Jordyn Jeffs hit a walk-off home run to beat Burlington Central and set the program’s single-season home run record that had stood since 1984. Jeffs is the Northwest Herald Athlete of the Week.

Crystal Lake Central faces Hononegah in IHSA Class 2A Sectional Semifinal girls soccer on Monday, May 25, 2026 at Crystal Lake Central High School in Crystal Lake.

Hinckley-Big Rock and Hiawatha advanced into Class 1A semifinal games, while the season came to an end for Genoa-Kingston and Indian Creek.

The Herscher girls soccer team advanced to the sectional championship with an 8-0 win over Chicago Christian in Monday's IHSA Class 1A Lisle Sectional semifinals, with Sophie Venckauskas leading the way with a hat trick, and more in Monday's Daily Journal roundup.

Keaton Allison hit an RBI double and later scored on a passed ball in the second to give more than enough run support to sophomore Jack Haley, who threw five shutout innings in Bradley-Bourbonnais' 3-1 win over Pekin in Monday's Class 4A Bradley-Bourbonnais Regional quarterfinal.

Outside of the many state medals claimed by area girls track and field athletes at the IHSA State Finals, it was a busy and successful weekend around the Herald-News coverage area. Here are a few of those top stories in our Weekend Rewind.

Polo Community High School recently held a signing day for three of its student athletes who will be continuing their careers in college.

Here is a look at where area baseball teams are opening play in the IHSA postseason. Newman received a No. 1 seed in its Class 3A debut, Dixon is a No. 2 seed, Forreston is a No. 1 seed in 1A and Fulton is a No. 3 seed.

Oregon sophomore Jillian Hammer won the IHSA state title in the 300 hurdles and took third in the 100 hurdles. Newman, Forreston, Amboy, Bureau Valley, Fulton and Dixon also had strong finishes in Charleston.

Woodstock North faces Crystal Lake Central in the IHSA Class 3A Regional Championship softball game on Saturday, May 23, 2026 at Crystal Lake Central High School in Crystal Lake.

Despite a valiant effort, York couldn't stop Stevenson from claiming its fourth consecutive IHSA State Girls Water Polo title.

Lemont boys tennis wins JCA Sectional and more in the Herald-News Saturday roundup.

Izzy Berg pitched a complete game, Ashlee Mundell had five RBIs and Oregon softball beat Rock Falls 8-0 for the Class 2A Oregon Regional title. It is the young Hawks' first regional title since 2022.

Sterling's Aron Rivera beat Newman's Joel Rhodes 6-2, 6-4 in the third-place match at the Class 1A Geneseo Sectional tennis meet. The Golden Warriors were second as a team.

Lilliyana Crawford powered Kaneland's softball regional victory and more in the roundup.

Hailey Brandlin and Maizie Nickle each scored twice, Mia Moyer, Genevieve Adamson and Nyla Rueda added goals and Huntley dominated the second half to beat Zion-Benton 7-0 and win the IHSA Class 3A regional girls soccer title at its home field Saturday.

Down 2-0 after five innings, Gardner-South Wilmington softball came back to top Grant Park in an extra-inning regional title thriller. And more in Saturday's Daily Journal roundup.

Forreston-Polo's 4x400 meter relay broke its own school record as F-P took second as a team at the Class 1A Oregon Sectional boys track and field meet on Friday. Oregon also had state qualifiers at the sectional.

Plainfield East headed up the list of girls state finalists at the Class 3A state track meet and more in Friday's Herald-News Roundup.

Sterling and Newman both had boys tennis players qualify for state after reaching the semifinals at the Class 1A Geneseo Sectional. Milledgeville's Loren Meiners had the regional-title-winning hit against Eastland in extras, and more in Friday's Sauk Valley roundup.