SVM area roundup: Sterling softball surges past Quincy

The Sterling softball team scored 10 runs over the final three innings for a 15-6 win over Quincy on Thursday in a Western Big 6 road game.

Sienna Stingley went 4 for 4 with a double and three RBIs, and also pitched a complete game for the Golden Warriors (4-0, 2-0 WB6), allowing six runs (three earned) and eight hits in seven innings, with nine strikeouts and two walks.

Olivia Melcher and Mya Lira both had two hits and two RBIs for Sterling, which scored a run in the first inning and two each in the second and third innings to take a 5-2 lead, then piled on three runs in the fifth, three more in the sixth, and four in the seventh to pull away.

Lauren Jacobs scored three runs and had two RBIs, while Melcher, Katie Taylor, Georgia Gallardo and Aubri Menchaca each scored twice, and Ellie Leigh drove in two runs for the Warriors. Gallardo and Lilliana Cantu also had RBIs, and Melcher, Cantu and Marley Sechrest had doubles; Sechrest was 3 for 4.

Sherrard 8, Morrison 3: The Fillies fell in a Three Rivers West game at home, as the Tigers took control with a four-run fifth inning.

Allie Anderson was 3 for 4 with a double and three RBIs, while Bella Duncan and Kiyah Wolber both went 2 for 4 for Morrison (4-2, 0-2 TRAC West). Duncan pitched 5 1/ 3 innings, allowing eight runs, 10 hits and four walks, with seven strikeouts; Kaylee Pruis walked one in 1 2/3 innings of hitless, scoreless relief.

Mercer County 9, Erie-Prophetstown 5: The Panthers couldn’t keep up with the Golden Eagles in a nonconference game in Prophetstown, as Mercer County scored three runs in the fifth, two in the sixth and two in the seventh to pull away.

Jaylynn Hamilton was 3 for 4 with two runs scored for Erie-Prophetstown, which led 1-0 after the first inning and 3-2 through the third. Jaiden Oleson and Lilly Swatos both had two hits and two RBIs for E-P, with Swatos smacking a double. Aylah Jones had two hits and an RBI.

Swatos allowed five runs (three earned) and five hits in five innings, striking out four, walking three and hitting a batter. Paezleigh Hudgin gave up four runs (three earned) and two hits in two innings of relief, with two strikeouts, two walks and two hit batters.

Bureau Valley 5, Mendota 3: Madison Smith had three hits, and Lesleigh Maynard (2 RBIs) and Callie Schoff had two hits each as the Storm (5-1) beat the Trojans behind winning pitcher Carly Reglin for the second time this week.

Fulton 5, Lena-Winslow 3: The Steamers scored a pair of runs in both the fourth and fifth innings, then leaned on pitcher Addison Hartman and their defense to finish the NUIC win.

Hartman earned the complete-game win, allowing three hits and one earned run, striking out five and walking three.

Fulton’s Madyson Luskey went 2 for 2, and Emily Kane had a double and two RBIs as the leaders at the plate.

Maddy Chiles took the loss in a complete game, allowing five hits and five unearned runs, striking out six and walking three.

Forreston 17, Pecatonica 0: The Cardinals scored 13 second-inning runs and racked up 15 hits in a two-inning win over the Indians, who had to forfeit when an injury reduced their lineup to eight players.

Forreston’s Brooke Boettner went 2 for 2 with four RBIs, including a home run and a double, and teammate Hailey Greenfield went 3 for 3 with three RBIs, including a triple and a double. Both players scored three runs.

Ella Ingram hit a triple, Rylee Broshous hit two doubles, and Alaina Miller hit one double for the Cardinals.

In the circle, Miller struck out one with no walks in a two-inning no-hitter.

Freeport 6, West Carroll 2: The Pretzels grabbed a 5-0 lead with a five-run fifth inning, then held off the Thunder in the two remaining innings for a nonconference win.

Lacey Eissens and Kyaria Kerkove each hit a double and had one RBI for West Carroll.

Freeport’s Maya Graham went 2 for 3 with a grand slam, and Kennedy Kloepping went 3 for 5 with one RBI. Pretzels pitcher Cam Plowman struck out 15 with no walks, and allowed five hits and two runs in a complete game.

Baseball

Geneseo 12, Sterling 7: The Maple Leafs scored in every inning except the first as the Golden Warriors dropped their Western Big 6 opener at Richmond Hill Park.

Drew Nettleton went 3 for 3 with a run scored for Sterling (5-3, 0-1 WB6), and Mason Smithee was 2 for 4 with a run scored and an RBI. Braden Birdsley had two RBIs and scored a run, and Braden Hartman doubled, scored a run and drove in another.

Rowan Workman started on the mound and allowed four runs (three earned), five hits, a walk and a hit batsman in three innings. Trevor Dir took the loss, giving up three runs and two hits in an inning of relief, with a pair of walks. Birdsley allowed five runs (two earned) and one hit in one inning, with one strikeout, three walks and two hit batsmen, while Hartman had a strikeout and a walk in an inning of hitless, scoreless relief.

Princeton 10, Dixon 3: The Dukes fell behind 5-0 after the top of the first inning and never recovered in a nonconference loss at Veterans Memorial Field.

Quade Richards and James Leslie had RBI hits for Dixon (1-2), and Aiden Wiseman, Collin Scott and Hunter Vacek all scored runs. Scott ripped a double.

Bryce Feit (1-1) took the loss, allowing five runs (two earned) and seven hits in 2 1/3 innings, striking out five without a walk while also hitting a batter. Kyan Adkins gave up four runs and one hit in 1 2/3 innings of relief, striking out one and walking four. Leslie allowed one run and three hits in three innings of relief, with two strikeouts and three walks.

Rockford Lutheran 9, Oregon 3: The Crusaders took a 2-0 lead in the third inning, then scored in every remaining inning to pull away from the Hawks.

Dom Terlikowski and Gavin Morrow drove in one run apiece for Oregon; Terlikowski drew two walks. Jack Washburn pitched four innings for the Hawks, allowing one hit and three runs (two earned), striking out five and walking three.

Bryce Taylor pitched 5 2/3 innings for Lutheran, allowing two hits and one unearned run, striking out seven and walking three.

Mendota 12, Bureau Valley 9: The Trojans rallied for four runs in their last at-bats to gain the Three Rivers East series split over the Storm at Manlius.

Sam Rouse had three hits, Elijah Endress had two hits and Ayize Martin had two RBIs for Bureau Valley.

Izaiah Nunez (3 RBIs) and Justin Randolph each had three hits for Mendota.

Eastland 8, Milledgeville 5: The Cougars surged to a 7-2 lead with a four-run fifth inning, then held off a late Missiles rally for a NUIC win.

Ethan Kessler went 1 for 3 with two RBIs and a walk, Tanner Stern drew two walks and scored three runs, and Hunter Miller hit a double, drew two walks and scored two runs for Eastland.

Allyn Geerts pitched five innings for the Cougars, allowing five hits and two runs (one earned), striking out six and walking six.

Bryson Wiersema and Bryce McKenna went 2 for 4 with one RBI, and Wyatt Meiners went 2 for 3 as the leading Milledgeville hitters. Wiersema surrendered two hits and one unearned run, and struck out four and walked two over two innings.

Aquin 3, Polo 2: The Bulldogs trailed the Marcos 2-0 after two innings, but tied it up with a two-run fourth, then scored the go-ahead run in the seventh to complete the comeback.

Gage Zeigler, Logan Nelson and Billy Lowry had one hit apiece for Polo; Lowry and Zeigler scored the runs. Lowry’s hit was a double.

Nolan Hahn pitched 4 1/3 innings for the Marcos, allowing four hits and two runs (one earned), striking out four and walking one. Carter Merdian pitched 2 2/3 innings, allowing three hits and one run, and striking out four with no walks.

Cooper Hathaway went 3 for 4 with one RBI, and pitched two scoreless, hitless innings with one walk and four strikeouts for Aquin. Keaton Schleich lasted five innings on the mound for the Bulldogs, allowing three hits and two runs, striking out five and walking one.

Fulton 10, Lena-Winslow 7: The Steamers scored four runs in the fifth inning to answer Le-Win’s two-run fourth in an NUIC crossover win at Drives Park.

Kole Schipper singled, doubled and drove in three runs for Fulton, which led 6-5 after a four-run second inning, then fell behind 7-6 in the top of the fourth. Ethan Price had two singles, two RBIs and a run scored, and Ryan Eads, Conner Sheridan and Reed Owen all drove in runs for the Steamers. Eads scored thee times, and Payton Curley and Dom Kramer both scored twice.

Owen allowed seven runs (four earned) and seven hits in four innings, striking out four, walking one and hitting two batters. James Crimmins picked up the win in relief, giving up three hits in three shutout innings, with a pair of strikeouts.

Forreston 22, Durand-Pecatonica 0, 5 inn.: The Cardinals built a 5-0 lead through four innings, then tacked on 17 more runs in the fifth for a five-inning win over the Rivermen.

Owen Greenfield went 4 for 5 with four RBIs and four runs scored. Carson Akins went 3 for 5 with four RBIs and three runs scored. Ayden Book went 1 for 3 with three RBIs. Kendall Erdmann and Brendan Greenfield also scored three runs each.

Alex Ryia threw a two-hitter with six strikeouts and two walks for Forreston.

Boys tennis

Sterling 4, Rock Island 1: The Golden Warriors opened their season with a Western Big 6 win on the road, taking all three doubles matches against the Rocks.

Connor Pham and Elias Jensen teamed up for a 6-1, 6-1 win at No. 1 doubles for Sterling, while Hunter Lofgren and Benjamin Boze won 6-3, 6-3 at No. 2, and Brady Shank and Iker Zaragoza won 6-3, 6-2 at No. 3 doubles.

Brecken Peterson was a 6-3, 6-3 winner at No. 1 singles for the Warriors.

Boys track & field

Rock Falls takes title in Erie: The Rockets amassed 111 points to top the host Panthers (101.5) in a five-team meet. Princeton took third with 81 points, Morrison finished fourth (75), and Hall was fifth (4.5).

Anthony Valdivia, Aydan Goff and Adan Oquendo won individual events for Rock Falls, with Valdivia taking the 1,600 (5:10.41), Goff winning the 300 hurdles (48.53 seconds), and Oquendo taking the long jump (5.76 meters). Oquendo also took third in the 200, and was part of the third-place 4x100-meter relay. The Rockets also won the 4x800 (9:51.24) with the team of Seth Wade, Gabe Moyer, Daegun Keesee and Jeffrey Sommer.

Braxton Sexton took second in both the 110 hurdles and the 300 hurdles, while Brady Root (800), Jose Gomez (1,600), Gunnar Damhoff (3,200) and Christian Hernandez (triple jump) also had runner-up finishes for Rock Falls.

Charlie Link and Caleb Eads both won two events for Erie-Prophetstown. Link won the 800 (2:09.83) and the 3,200 (11:02.48), and he also took third in the 1,600. Eads won the high jump (5 feet, 4 inches) and the triple jump (11.13 meters), while Hayden Summer won the 110 hurdles (18.93 seconds) and Parker Holdorf (3.89 meters) and Aiden Jepson (3.27 meters) went 1-2 in the pole vault for the Panthers. The quartet of Holdorf, Lucas Dreisbach, Wyatt Beck and Tyson Skinner added a runner-up finish in the 4x400.

Brady Anderson led Morrison with four wins in the meet. The Mustangs went 1-2-3 in the 100-meter dash with Anderson (11.36 seconds), Levi Milder (11.41) and Zach Milder (11.76), and Anderson also ran on winning relays in the 4x100 (46.00) with the two Milders and Reynolds Reavy, the 4x200 (1:38.13) with the two Milders and Zed Koch, and the 4x400 (3:47.33) with Chase Newman, Kaarder White and Aiden Dolieslager.

Zach Milder also won the 200 (23.82), with Levi Milder second (23.91). Newman was runner-up in the 400 (56.14).

Girls track & field

Rock Falls takes title in Erie: The Rockets scored 125 points to easily outdistance Princeton (87) and host Erie-Prophetstown (76) in a five-team meet. Hall was fourth (38), and Morrison finished fifth (13).

Rock Falls finished 1-2-3 in both the 800 and 1,600. Ava Shank (2:36.31), Gracie Rippy (2:38.12) and Tayli Hultin (2:43.93) took the top three spots in the 800, while Hana Ford (5:41.09), Ariel Hernandez (5:45.11) and Kat Scott (5:58.62) achieved the feat in the 1,600. Emma Rumley added a win in the 300 hurdles (1:03.41), and Carli Kobbeman won the long jump (4.94 meters) and took second in both the 100 and 200. The Rockets also won the 4x400 (4:33.79) with the team of Hultin, Ford, Rippy and Shank, and the 4x800 (12:36.43) with the quartet of Brenna Burlack, Addisyn Castaneda, Emma Peterson and Ashlyn Fargher.

Emily Lego added a second place in the triple jump, and teamed with Savannah Bufford, Makenna Arickx and Amara Thomas to take second in the 4x200. Rock Falls added a third in the 4x100 with the team of Kobbeman, Bufford, Arickx and Hope Hampton.

Olivia Purvis won the pole vault (2.75 meters) for the Panthers, and also teamed with Ashlyn Johnson, Ellie Johnson and Kennedy Buck to win the 4x100 (53.10) and 4x200 (1:56.03); that quartet also took second in the 4x400.

Brianna Neumiller was runner-up in both the shot put and discus, Ava Grawe was second in the high jump, Gracelyn Abell took second to Purvis in the pole vault, Ellie Johnson was runner-up in the long jump, and the team of Clara Ashdown, Brooke Lalley, Aubrey Misfeldt and Isabella Pangrazio was second in the 4x800. Ashlyn Johnson added a third in the long jump.

Erika King was the lone top-three finisher for the Fillies, taking second in the 400 (1:06.82) and third in the 200 (29.91).