Coal City stays hot with win over Kankakee: Thursday’s Daily Journal roundup

Baseball

Coal City 20, Kankakee 5: Eight errors from Kankakee (8-19) helped Coal City (20-11) light up the scoreboard on Thursday in nonconference play, the fourth straight win for the Coalers. Kellen Forsythe went 4 for 4 with two doubles, four RBIs and three runs while Blaine Doss was 4 for 4 with three RBIs and a run. Gabe McHugh hit a two-run home run and Connor Henline had a solo inside-the-park home run.

Kankakee’s Byron Wills was 1 for 1 with two walks and two RBIs while Jaden Villafuerte was 2 for 2 with an RBI and two runs.

Marian Catholic 15, Bishop McNamara 12: The red-hot Fightin’ Irish (22-7) had an 11-game winning streak snapped with a nonconference loss on the road Thursday. Taylor Fuerst went 4 for 4 with two RBIs and two runs. Braylon Ricketts and Callaghan O’Connor each hit two-run home runs while Dom Panozzo was 2 for 3 with two RBIs and a run.

Manteno 22, Watseka 10: Manteno (18-7) scored at least four runs in each of its four trips to the plate, ending senior night in five innings, taking advantage of eight walks, an error and a hit batter to tally 22 runs on 16 hits. Maddox Toepper was 3 for 3 with a double, four runs and four RBIs. Brady Hespen, Tyler Buehler, Andrew Norred, Quinn Borden and Nolan Canfield each had a pair of hits and at least one run and/or RBI. Canfield and Gavin Phelan each pitched scoreless innings.

Quinn Starkey paced the Warriors (10-14) at the plate after going 2 for 2 with a double, three RBIs and two runs. Seth Dirks doubled, drove in a pair and scored twice.

St. Anne-Donovan 10, Grant Park 0: Carter Ponton allowed just one hit Thursday in a six-inning gem for the Cardinals (13-9, 7-5 RVC), who wrapped the regular season with their second straight RVC sweep. Ponton had 10 strikeouts and did not issue a walk. Jesus Chaca-Tapia went 3 for 4 with four RBIs while Brandon Schoth was 2 for 4 with three RBIs.

For Grant Park (6-15, 4-8), Jayden Kaack had a single in the top of the sixth for the Dragons’ only hit.

Beecher 12, Crossroads Christian 2: Chase Maher came up big at the plate and on the mound Thursday to help the Bobcats (13-16) end the regular season with their third win in the final four games. Maher pitched all six innings, allowing five hits and two runs while recording 11 strikeouts. He also went 4 for 5 with a double and three RBIs. Nolen Lane was 1 for 1 with two walks, two RBIs and two runs out of the leadoff spot.

Milford 11, Oakwood 10: The Bearcats (15-15, 6-5 Vermilion Valley Conference) held on for a close win at home Thursday in their VVC finale, surviving a five-run rally from Oakwood in the top of the seventh. Caleb Clutteur was 1 for 3 with a grand slam while also walking and scoring a second run. Hixon Lafond was 3 for 4 with a double, three RBIs and a run.

Gardner-South Wilmington 15, Illinois Lutheran 5: The Panthers (9-16, 5-7 River Valley Conference) wrapped up conference play on Thursday by finishing off the sweep of the Chargers. Cameron Gray went 1 for 1 with a double, a walk, three RBIs and two runs while Reed Millette was 1 for 1 with a walk, two RBIs and two runs.

Dwight 10, Peotone 7: Despite a four-run rally in the top of the seventh, the Blue Devils (9-18) fell to Dwight on the road Thursday in their final regular season game. Ruben Velasco was 2 for 4 with a double, an RBI and two runs while Tavin Harshfield was 1 for 2 with two RBIs.

Softball

Central 11, Donovan 1: Four-run fifth and sixth innings propelled the Comets (15-13-1, 10-4 RVC) to a runaway win at Donovan (8-13, 5-9), with six of their runs coming unearned on seven Donovan errors. Mia Koch-Perzee was 3 for 4 with four RBIs and a run. Rayven Perkins tripled, had three RBIs and scored twice. Sydney Jemar struck out a dozen and allowed an unearned run in a four-hit shutout.

Bailey Henneike singled and scored on a Laylah Lou Walters double for the Wildcats.

Grant Park 13, St. Anne 4: Of the 21 outs recorded by Grant Park’s Cheyenne Hayes on Thursday, 18 came via the strikeout. She allowed four hits and four runs in seven innings to lead the Dragons (13-10, 9-5 RVC) to a conference sweep of the Cardinals (3-17, 2-12). She also went 3 for 4 with a walk, an RBI and a run while Abigail Roberts was 3 for 5 with two RBIs and three runs.

St. Anne’s Jovi Kunsch was 1 for 3 with a three-run home run. Maya Anderson and Alexis Hedges were each 1 for 4 with a run.

Ottawa 12, Coal City 6: Each team tallied a dozen hits, but the Coalers (17-11) couldn’t keep up in the run column. Madi Petersen, Kaycee Graf, Khloe Picard, Addison Harvey and Sierra Anderson each had two hits. Petersen scored a team-high three runs and Picard had a team-high two RBIs. Brittnae Combs allowed three earned runs in four innings of relief.

Gardner-South Wilmington 9, Illinois Lutheran 2: Maddie Simms and Lily Buck each homered Thursday as the Panthers (20-10, 11-3 RVC) ended the regular season with a conference win on the road. Simms finished 2 for 2 with an RBI and two runs while Buck was 2 for 4 with two RBIs and two runs. Simms also pitched the first three innings, allowing one hit and striking out eight batters.

Girls track and field

IHSA Class 1A Westville Sectional: All four area schools will send at least one athlete to next weekend’s state finals. Central’s Lia Prairie is headed to state in both the shot put (11.17 meters) and discus (34.73), finishing second in both. The Comets had sectional champions crowned when Eriannah Martinez won the 300-meter hurdles (48.64 seconds) and Ashtyn Rosenbrock won the discus (34.84).

Milford-Cissna Park’s Addison Lucht won both the long jump (5.22) and triple jump (10.82). Watseka’s Megan Martin won the shot put (11.72). Iroquois West’s Phylicity Leonard and Audrey Griffin earned state bids with sectional bronze in their events, Leonard in the shot put (10.76) and Griffin in the high jump (1.52).

Boys water polo

IHSA Lincoln-Way West Sectional quarterfinals

Lincoln-Way West 24, Bradley-Bourbonnais 4: No individual stats were available for the Boilermakers, whose season ended at 7-18.