Boys track and field

Seneca wins Class 1A sectional title, will send nine athletes to state; Marquette’s Gooden advances in three events: At the Class 1A Seneca Sectional, the Fighting Irish claimed the team title with 116 points and will be sending nine athletes to the state finals in Charleston.

Seneca’s Zeb Maxwell (shot put, 15.13 meters), Matt Stach (long jump, 7.10) and Trenton Powell (pole vault, 3.85) all finished first in their respective events. Jesus Govea (4th, shot put, 14.70 state qualifying mark; 3rd, discus, 43.71) and Noah Odum (wheelchair shot put and discus) move on in two events, while Kaden Meents (2nd, pole vault, 3.10), Liam Baima (2nd, 1600-meter run, 4 minutes, 45.71 seconds), Brayden Simek (3rd, high jump, 1.85) and Ethan Hasselbring (4th, triple jump, 12.63) will also be heading to state.

Marquette junior Jacoby Gooden will run at state in the 100 (1st, 10.90 seconds), 200 (2nd, 22.41) and 400 (400, 51.29).

Newark senior Cody Kulbartz advanced with a state-qualifying discus toss of 43.70.

Fieldcrest pair heading to state: At the Class 1A El Paso-Gridley Sectional, the Knights Micheal Beckett and Braydin Eplin advanced to state in their respective events.

Beckett leapt 13.22 to win the triple jump and Eplin recorded a 43.64 to finish third in the discus, eclipsing the state standard.

Girls soccer

Ottawa 9, Morris 0: At Orion in the Class 2A regional semifinals, the No. 2-seeded Pirates (16-4) rolled to the win over the No. 7-seeded Warriors and into the championship match.

Chloe Carmona scored five goals and passed for two assists to lead Ottawa. Allison Power, Georgia Kirkpatrick (two assists), Elle McGrath (assist) and Kendall Hardee also scored goals. Brooklyn Byone and Laynie Allen each added an assist.

Softball

Ottawa 15, Rochelle 0 (4 inn.): In the semifinals of the Class 3A Geneseo Regional, the No. 2-seeded Pirates (21-10) scored five runs in the first inning to jumpstart the win over the No. 7-seeded Hubs and advance to Saturday’s 11 a.m. championship game against the host and No. 3-seeded Maple Leafs.

Rylee Harsted (two RBIs) had three hits for Ottawa, while Teagan Darif (RBI) and Bobbi Snook (RBI) each had two hits. Aubrey Sullivan (triple) drove in four runs with Piper Lewuis and Joslyn Rose each driving in a pair of runs. Addie Russell (4 IP, 1 H, 4 K) posted the win in the circle.

Serena 10, Donavan 1: In the semifinals of the Class 1A Serena Regional, the No. 4-seeded Huskers scored twice in the second to take the lead for good in the win over the No. 6-seeded Wildcats.

Serena advances to Friday’s 4 p.m. championship game against top-seeded Marquette.

Kaity Johnson (RBI) had three hits for Serena, while Brynley Glade (double) and Maddie Young (triple, two RBIs) each had two hits. Jordyn Warren had two RBIs, Finley Brodbeck doubled, and Cassie Walsh (7 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 13 K) earned the victory in the circle.

Oregon 6, Somonauk/Leland 0: In the semifinals of the Class 2A Oregon Regional, the No. 7-seeded Bobcats finished the season at 10-12 with the loss to the No. 2-seeded Hawks.

MacKenna McMahan singled twice to account for the lone S/L hits, while Brielle Deacon (6 IP, 9 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 K) suffered the loss.

Mendota 10, Sandwich 8: In the semifinals of the Class 2A Byron Regional, the No. 5-seeded Trojans scored twice in the sixth to take the lead for good against the No. 4-seeded Indians (17-14).

Kayden Corneils (double) had four hits for Sandwich, while Kendal Petre (double, two RBIs), Abigail Johnson (triple, two RBIs) and Karlie Hardekopf (two RBIs) each had two hits. Raena Moyer doubled and Johnson (5 IP, 10 H, 6 ER, 1 BB, 3 K) took the pitching loss.

Gardner-South Wilmington 7, Dwight 0: In the semifinals of the Class 1A Dwight Regional, the No. 5-seeded Trojans ended the season at 7-19 with the loss to the No. 3-seeded Panthers.

McKenna Woodcock’s double leading off the seventh was the lone hit for Dwight in the game. Madi Ely (6 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 9 K) was tagged with the loss.

Baseball

Marquette 10, Somonauk 0 (5 inn.): At Masinelli Field in Ottawa, the Crusaders (32-1) scored five in the second and four in the fifth in the win over the Bobcats (12-12)

Anthony Couch (win, 2 IP, 0 H, 2 BB, 2 K) and Baren Hellman (3 IP, 2 H, 1 BB, 4 K) combined on the two-hit shutout. Alec Novoteny led the offense with three hist and three RBIs. Grady Dose had two hits, while Beau Thompson (double) and Couch each had two RBIs.

Connor Knutson and Cole Gudmunson each singled for Somonauk while Luke Hartsell (4 IP, 8 H, 7 ER, 5 BB) suffered the loss.

Woodland/Flanagan-Cornell 11, Indian Creek 1 (5 inn.): At rural Streator, the Warriors (2-18) banged out 17 hits and scored in every inning in the win over the Timberwolves.

Reece Pelnarsh (double, RBI), Parker Hopkins (RBI) and Blaine Bates (two RBIs) each had three hits for WFC, while Nolan Price (double, RBI) and Brayden Matsko (double, three RBIs) each had two hits. Pelnarsh (3⅔ IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 4 BB, 5 K) earned the win with relief help from Price (1⅓ IP, 1 H, 3 K).

Lisle 14, Newark 4 (6 inn.): At Lisle, the Norsemen dropped to 9-18 on the season with the loss to the Lions.

Colin Shields had two of Newark’s three hits on the day while David Ulrich (3⅓ IP, 5 H, 6 ER, 6 BB, 4 K) took the loss.

Sandwich 6, Woodstock 5: At Sandwich, the Indians scored a run in the sixth and held on for the Kishwaukee River Conference triumph over the Blue Streaks.

Braden Behringer (double, two RBIs) had for hits to lead Sandwich (19-14-1, 8-6). Cash White added two RBIs and Anthony Wade doubled. Behringer (7 IP, 9 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 5 K) also recorded the win on the mound.

Fieldcrest 9, Ridgeview 3: At Colfax, Lucas May went 1 for 4 with two RBIs and two runs to help the Knights to a Heart of Illinois Conference victory.

Layten Gerdes was 1 for 2 with two runs and an RBI for Fieldcrest (11-15, 6-5 HOIC), while Zach Overocker doubled and drove in two runs.

Layten Gerdes also was the winning pitcher as he allowed one hit while striking out 10 and walking none in five scoreless innings.