Here are a few of those top stories in our Weekend Rewind, with full reports available at www.shawlocal.com/the-herald-news.

Minooka‘s baseball team continued to run roughshod through the postseason on Saturday, notching a 15-1 victory over powerhouse Edwardsville in the Class 4A Normal Community Sectional final at the Corn Crib to advance to a supersectional showdown with Naperville Central.

In the postseason, Minooka has outscored its opponents 46-7 in four games.

“We’re just going out there and having some fun. We’re not trying to overcomplicate things,” said Rhett Harris, whose first-inning home run Saturday propelled Minooka to victory. “We’re all feeding off one another. It’s really easy when you get into these big games to get super stiff and serious about things, but we just need to keep playing the game the way it needs to be played.”

Tyler Ebel added a three-hit day, Harris a second home run, and Brady Kozlowski a homer of his own in support of winning pitcher Cam Rujawitz.

A day before they closed out the Class 4A state championship, the Lincoln-Way West softball team made believers out of top-ranked Marist and the rest of the state Friday with a 2-1 win over the top-ranked RedHawks that boosted the Warriors into the state championship game for the first time in school history.

L-W West pitcher Abby Brueggmann was masterful, scattering eight hits and striking out four, including Marist cleanup hitter Soleil Tate with a runner on third to end the semifinal.

“I honestly didn’t think I would hold them to one run before the game started,” Brueggmann said. “But we were playing very loose. I figured the longer we could stay in it, the better chance we would have, so getting that lead early was huge.

“I would say that my mindset was the thing that worked best for me today. I just knew I didn’t want to walk any batters. I wanted to make them earn it.”

Reese Rourke scored the Warriors’ first run on a double steal, with Reese Forsythe tripling and scoring the other on a Paige Seivert sacrifice fly.

Seneca, which only had two baserunners through five innings against Carterville senior pitcher and University of Illinois commit Caidence Phillips, was able to put four runners in scoring position in the final two frames and got one run back in the seventh, but eventually fell 3-1 to finish state runner-up in Class 2A to cap a record-breaking season.

“This team battled to the very end,” Seneca coach Brian Holman said. “Against Beecher [in the sectional final], we were down and came back. Against IC Catholic on Thursday, we were down and battled back. And today, we found ways in the final two innings to bring the tying run up to the plate a couple times. We were a hit away a couple times today, but we just weren’t able to get it.”

Wilmington baseball had its season ended in the Class 2A Herscher Sectional with an 11-2 loss to Marquette Academy, the Class 1A state champion in both 2025 and 2024. The Wildcats answered Marquette’s two-run top of the first with two runs in the bottom half, but were outscored 9-0 from there. “It’s a tight-knit group, and they made life easy for us all year,” Wilmington coach Mike Bushnell said. “They do all the little things, and looking back, these guys made a lot of lifelong memories together.” ... Lincoln-Way Central, the Cinderella of the Class 4A baseball bracket, fell 7-1 to Sandburg in the championship game of the 4A Lincoln-Way Central Sectional. “What I’ll remember most about this season is just being with the guys all year,” L-W Central senior Luke Tingley said. “We had a great run, really showed up in the playoffs and were the last Lincoln-Way school standing, which does feel good.” ... The Lemont girls soccer team finished fourth at the IHSA Class 2A State Finals in Naperville, falling 5-0 in the semifinals to eventual state champion Crystal Lake Central ahead of Saturday’s 1-0 loss to St. Francis in the third-place match.

Minooka is putting that rather reasonable theory to the test though, running rough shod through four postseason to date including a 15-1 victory over Edwardsville in the Class 4A Normal Community Sectional final on Saturday.

The win lifts Minooka into a 6 p.m. Monday contest at the Corn Crib in Normal where it will face Naperville Central in the the Class 4A Normal Community Supersectional. Naperville Central defeated Downers Grove North 3-1 in the title game of the the Lockport Sectional.

“I’m glad that it feels easy, because it doesn’t to me,” Minooka coach Jeff Petrovic said. “I think after all of these years, I understand how difficult it is to be in these positions and how hard everybody works to get yourself to this spot.

“It’s easy to take for granted thast we’re throwing up some crooked numbers and a lot of things are going our way. But they’ve earned everything they’ve got.”

Minooka wasted no time in making a statement.

Ryan Keener coaxed a walk to start the game and Gavin McReynolds was hit by a pitch. Landon Currie then doubled home Keener and after a lineout, Rhett Harris deposited a ball on the other side of the fence to give Minooka a 4-0 lead after just five batters had reached the plate.

These sorts of outbursts have become common for Minooka in the postseason as they have outscored opponents 46-7 in four games and have invoked the mercy rule in all but one of those contests.

“We’re just going out there and having some fun. We’re not trying to overcomplicate things,” Harris said. “We’re all feeding off one another. It’s really easy when you get into these big games to get super stiff and serious about things, but we just need to keep playing the game the way it needs to be played.”

Minooka chased the Edwardsville starter from the game, the first of four Tiger pitchers that tried to slow down the red-hot Indians offense.

None of them succeeded.

Tyler Ebel, Minooka’s No. 9 hitter, started off his three-hit day with a double to lead off the second and would later come around to score to stretch Minooka’s lead to 5-0 and the Indians would throw up two runs in each of the third and fourth inning, with Harris providing his secon home run of the day, a two-run shot in the fourth.

Edwardsville’s only run of the game came in the second when Nolan Vojak connected for an RBI double, and the Tigers looked like they were on the brink of adding more in the third, but Minooka starter Cam Rujawitz bore down and left Edwardsville will the bases loaded and no damage done on the scoreboard.

It was one of the very few times Rujawitz was put to the test as he kept Edwardsville off balance throughout the game.

“It’s nice to have all of those runs out there, but it all comes from the energy,” Rujawitz said. “We’re all so connected and you see what happens on the field because of that.”

Minooka put the finishing touches on the win with a six-run sixth that included a solo home run from Brady Kozlowski and a two-run triple from Keener.

That ended the game early and with it was a result that while it delighted Minooka’s veteran coach he admitted to a bit of a surprise at the way his team took care of one of the power programs in Illinois.

“Gosh, no,” Petrovic said if the result was something he anticipated. “Even the other day against Normal, you’re expecting maybe it is going to be a race to three runs or something. And today, this is one of the best programs around and they do everything right and we have so much respect for them.

“And some days are just your day. We are just playing some inspired baseball I couldn’t be prouder.”

He got an even better look in his second at-bat.

Kozlowski ripped a three-run homer over the right field fence to put Minooka firmly in control of its Class 4A Normal Community Sectional semifinal game, and its relentless postseason offense added another chapter in an 8-2 win over the highly touted Ironmen at Illinois State University’s Duffy Bass Field.

Minooka (30-6) advanced to the sectional title game at 11 a.m. Saturday at Illinois State, where it will play Edwardsville. Edwardsville defeated O’Fallon 6-5 in the other semifinal.

Swartz looked like an ominous opponent when he struck out the first two batters of the game, but a Minooka offense that has outscored three foes 31-6 in the postseason isn’t that easily denied.

Landon Currie got Minooka going with a double that would have left most high school parks, and Kozlowski’s double chased him home with Minooka’s first run of the contest.

Normal Community answered with a run of its own to tie the game on three consecutive singles, the last of which, from Beckett Weber, tied the game at 1.

But any thoughts that the game might settle into a pitcher’s duel ended in the third inning.

Tyler Ebel led off the frame with a single, and while he was washed off the books on a force out on a Ryan Keener grounder, Gavin McReynolds was plunked with a pitch. After Currie flew out, Kozlowski battered a Swartz offering to give Minooka a 4-1 lead and all the cushion it would need.

“I was just trying to do some damage with my first at-bat,” Kozlowski said. “And I went up the second at-bat with confidence, but honestly, I had two strikes on me, so I was trying to shorten up and just put the bat on the ball, and it ended up getting out.”

For good measure, Minooka put together another big inning that was helped along by walks and forced the early departure of Swartz. An RBI single from Currie, a bases-loaded walk coaxed by Kozlowski, and a two-run single from Harris pushed the Minooka lead to 8-1.

It was more than enough offensive support from Zane Caves, who, after allowing the three consecutive hits in the first inning, was sharp against an Ironmen lineup that hadn’t had many problems producing offense before Wednesday’s contest.

Caves wouldn’t allow another hit after the first inning until the sixth, when he was relieved by Logan Mackin. Caves finished with 5⅔ innings pitched and seven strikeouts, allowing just four hits and two walks.

“This whole team, we wanted it,” Caves said. “We were ready for it, and I was just going at them and staying confident with my stuff.

“There were a couple of hits in the first, but it didn’t ruin anything for me. It was all like weak contact. I just had to stay confident throughout it all, and I had a great defense behind me.”

Mackin allowed one of those inherited runs to score, but Minooka was able to keep the Ironmen from getting any closer than 8-2 thanks to a great grab from shortstop Joey Rutz.

“Hats off to them,” Minooka coach Jeff Petrovic said. “That’s a great program. Zane pitched an incredible game, which we knew he had to be really, really good tonight.

“And we have found some offense that wasn’t maybe there earlier in the year. I feel like earlier in the year we played a lot different type of baseball, we’ve started to hit up and down the order. When you get to this time of year, you have to play great, and we’ve played pretty darn good for the last three games.”

Some of those teams thrived in the one-game winner take all format while others wilted on the pressure of the momentum.

And if the way Minooka has played in the first two games of the postseason are any indication, this version of the Indians is indeed thriving.

With a combination of a relentless offense and yet another stellar pitching performance Minooka rolled to the Class 4A Bradley-Bourbonnais Regional title with an 11-1 five inning victory over Plainfield Central.

Minooka (29-6) will play at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Illinois State University against Normal Community in the Class 4A Normal Community Sectional. Normal Community, widely considered the top team in Class 4A, defeated Moline 10-0 in the Class 4A Moline Regional.

“You set all of these little baby steps to the big prize and that’s the postseason,” Petrovic said. “We stress this as a program that this is where you want to be and the situation you want to be in.

“It’s what separates high school baseball from other types of ball. The postseason creates the kinds of moments that kids will remember for the rest of their lives.”

Minooka took an early 1-0 lead on a Rhett Harris RBI single in the first, but the Indians really began to apply the pressure in the second. The first six Minooka hitters reached and a two-run double by Gavin McReynolds started to break things open.

In all, Minooka sent nine batters to the plate in the frame and led 5-0 when the dust cleared. Two innings later, Minooka would roll the lineup over again, sending 10 to the plate with the big blow coming on a three-run homer from Brady Kozlowski. Three more hits following the blast stretched the lead to 10-0.

“I think we kind of came out with a chip on our shoulders today. We really wanted to get this regional title because we failed last year,” Kozlowski said.

All of this offense was more than enough support for Minooka starting pitcher Cam Rujawitz. He allowed just two hits in the contest and only relented once in the fifth when back to back hit batsmen allowed the Wildcats to scratch across their lone run of the game.

That only staved off elimination for the Wildcats for a few minutes though as Landon Currie and Kozlowski rapped back-to-back doubles to lead off the fifth inning and invoke the mercy rule.

It was a rough finish for Plainfield Central and wasn’t indicative of what the program achieved during the regular season including a SPC East Division title and a 15-game winning streak midway through the season.

“We didn’t have the execution that we necessarily needed today,” Plainfield Central coach Rob Keane said. “But that doesn’t change the fact of how proud of the guys we are. Today’s the end, but it doesn’t define what we did this season.”

Minooka moves on to a daunting task in Normal Community. The Ironmen are at or near the top of everyone’s lists of favorites to win the Class 4A title. Normal Community has six players committed to NCAA Division I schools for next season including potential draftee Gavin Swartz, an Indiana commit, that threw one of the Ironmen’s eight no-hitters this season in the regional semifinal round.

But Minooka doesn’t plan to relent to Normal Community’s impressive resume without a fight.

“We’re looking forward to it,” Kozlowski said. “We want them.”

Those assigned to that task for the Plainfield Central baseball team took that job so seriously Thursday afternoon that one had to believe they were ready to eat a grand meal.

The top four hitters in the lineup reached base 15 of the 16 times they came to the plate, and the 16th was also a fruitful at-bat, providing a sacrifice fly as Plainfield Central rolled into the championship game of the Class 4A Bradley-Bourbonnais Regional with a 13-1, five-inning win over Peoria Richwoods.

Plainfield Central (22-8-1) faces Minooka in the regional title game, also at Bradley-Bourbonnais at 11 a.m. Saturday. Minooka beat Plainfield Central twice during the regular season. Richwoods closed its season with a 17-19 record.

The Wildcats wasted no time in flexing their offensive mettle as the first four Wildcat batters reached. Even Plainfield Central’s first out of the game was a productive one as Ryder Sisti launched a sacrifice fly to stretch Plainfield Central’s early lead to 2-0.

“Our kids have been great with approach all year,” Plainfield Central coach Rob Keane said. “We’ve put together a lot of games where everybody or anybody is going to come up with hits at any point.

“We really went up there one through nine and came up there with a plan to get on base, and when you can get on base, good things tend to happen.”

Plainfield Central’s second-inning flurry almost seemed improbable. The first two batters reached for the Wildcats, but both were taken out on the basepaths. Then, with two outs, six consecutive Wildcats reached, including a three-run double from Ryder Sisti that broke things open and extended Plainfield Central’s lead to 7-0.

That was more than enough run support for Plainfield Central starting pitcher Cole Sisti. He struck out five batters in the first two innings. Although he was touched up for an earned run in the third inning, he was able to pitch with the confidence of a player who knew his team had his back offensively and defensively.

“It made the job 10 times easier,” Cole Sisti said. “The energy in our dugout gave me all the confidence in the world.”

After allowing the unearned run in the third, Cole Sisti finished off a solid effort by retiring the last seven batters he faced.

“Cole has been great for us all season,” Keane said. “He came in on lockdown today and did a great job of understanding what it was going to take.”

The win lifts the Wildcats into the regional title game, where they will face Minooka for the third time this season. Minooka won both contests, a 6-5 decision in the WJOL Tournament in early April and a 10-3 decision in an SPC crossover match one week later.

Keane believes his team is in a better position to make a run at the Indians than they were earlier in the campaign.

“They [Minooka] do a great job with their kids, and it is a good team. And we’ll obviously use it as an opportunity for us to reset,” Keane said. “It’s a testament to the SPC that the East and West winners will meet for the regional championship. I think it will be a good game.”

Last year’s 2-1 loss in the regional final was particularly galling for the Indians, considering it was one of only three losses they had in 2025.

So when the postseason draw came out, Minooka was assured of playing Bradley-Bourbonnais for the fifth consecutive postseason in the Class 4A Bradley-Bourbonnais Regional on Wednesday. Suffice to say, Minooka wasn’t taking anything for granted.

As such, Minooka jumped out to an early 6-0 lead, extended it to 9-0 before the Boilermakers finally broke through with a little offense before the Indians finished off a 12-3 win and took a heavy weight off their shoulders.

“They have had our number for the last couple of years, but every year is different,” Minooka coach Jeff Petrovic said. “They are a good program, and they play the game the right way. But we came in today not really worried about the other team, but worried about taking care of themselves, playing the game the right way.”

Minooka (28-6) will play either third-seeded Plainfield Central or Peoria Richwoods in Saturday’s 11 a.m regional final. Those two teams will square off in the other semifinal Thursday afternoon. Bradley-Bourbonnais finished the season with a 12-20 record.

The Indians left the bases loaded in the first inning before a crooked number came in a gritty second. Without a hit, five Minooka batters reached base, and two of them scored. Then, in the third, Minooka got its first hit of the game by Joey Rutz, who would then come off the books after getting caught in a rundown, only to have Minooka have five consecutive baserunners reach, again without the benefit of a hit.

After the dust cleared from that chaos, Minooka led 6-0.

“Our guys had good at-bats today, put maximum pressure on them, and that’s what you have to do in the postseason,” Petrovic said.

On the flip side, facing an extremely limited amount of pressure was Minooka starter Zane Caves. Caves saw no more than four batters per inning in each of the first four frames and allowed his offense to give him plenty of cushion to land.

Even though he didn’t really need it.

“This game definitely meant something to me and especially this team,” Caves said. “They’ve knocked us out the last two years. But I trust in this offense and the defense behind me. They don’t make any errors. So I was just coming out here with confidence.”

Caves did give a few inches in the Boilermaker fifth inning as Bradley strung together three runs on four hits, highlighted by an RBI triple from Keaton Allison. But he was back on point in the sixth, striking out the side as he’d finish with nine strikeouts before giving way to Logan Mackin, who tossed a scoreless seventh inning to finish out the game.

Bradley-Bourbonnais was hoping it would be able to keep its postseason mystique happening once again this season as the heavy underdog Boilermakers played at a much better level in the second half than their record might indicate.

But Bradley’s collective pitching staff walked 10 batters and hit two more, and the defense committed three errors, virtually evaporating any chance of the Boilermakers playing spoiler.

“Both defensively and on the mound, we weren’t as sharp as we wanted to be,” Bradley-Bourbonnais coach Brad Schweigert said. “We’ve said it all along. Defense and pitching win championships.

“Credit to Minooka. They are a good team. They take good swings on balls and play good defense. They are just solid all the way around. We knew we were going to have to play a really good game, and we didn’t play the best game we wanted to.”