LOCAL ROUNDUP: Sterling baseball ends season with loss to Boylan; Forreston baseball tops AFC; Oregon soccer takes regional

The Sterling baseball team fell 12-3 to Boylan on Friday in Rockford in the regional semifinal.

Boylan scored nine runs in the bottom of the third after the Golden Warriors had taken a 2-1 lead in the top of the inning.

JD Hall had two hits for Sterling, including a double. Ryan Heffelfinger and Garrett Polson both drove in runs.

Blake Nettleton pitched two innings and allowed one earned run, eight runs and four hits, striking out four. Colt Adams came on in relief and worked four innings, allowing four runs on four hits and striking out two.

Forreston 20, AFC 9: The Raiders had one big inning, but the Cardinals had several in a regional win.

The Raiders scored six runs in the second inning, with Dylan Gonnerman’s RBI double starting the scoring, followed by a Carson Rueff RBI single and an Evan Kopp RBI double.

Braiden Runkle drove in two runs with a double in the fifth.

Jordan Harris had a pair of hits at the plate. Kopp was 2-for-4 with two doubles. Runkle and Michael Cochrane also had two hits.

But Forreston countered with a five-run first, three each in the second, third and fourth, and a six-run fifth. Ryan Schoonhoven hit a three-run homer in the fifth.

Byron 7, Erie-Prophetstown 6, 11 inn.: The Panthers rallied from 4-0 down early to force extra innings, but could not pull out the win over the Tigers.

Byron scored three runs in the first and added a run in the second before Erie-Prophetstown scored two in the fourth and another in the fifth. After a Byron run made it 5-3, the Panthers scored two in the top of the seventh to tie it.

Neither team scored in the eighth, each scored a run in the ninth, neither scored in the 10th, so it came down to a Byron walk-off in the 11th.

Bryce Rosenow pitched 5 1/3 innings and struck out seven. Jamie Miner struck out six in his five innings of work. Kolby Franks drove in a pair of runs.

Fulton 13, Amboy 3: The Steamers stopped the Clippers in their regional semifinal.

Andruw Jones scored twice for Amboy, and Tucker Lindenmeyer also scored.

Brock Mason, Drew Dykstra, Jacob Jones and Ian Wiebenga had RBIs in a six-run second for Fulton. Mason and Kannon Wynkoop drove in runs in the sixth. The Steamers scored five runs in the fifth on a passed ball and a pair of errors.

Fulton will face Newman on Monday for the regional title.

Stillman Valley 11, Bureau Valley 1: The Storm saw their season come to a close at the hands of the Cardinals.

SOFTBALL

Pearl City 3, Forreston 2: The Wolves scored two runs in the top of the seventh to rally past the Cardinals, getting the winning run on an RBI single from Brianna Stager.

Taylor Greenfield was 1-for-2 with an RBI for Forreston. Kara Erdmann and Rylee Broshous each had a hit. Erdmann struck out 14 in her seven innings in the circle, allowing three runs on eight hits.

Cheyenne Handsaker struck out 14 for the Wolves.

Orangeville 10, Eastland 0: The Cougars fell to the top seed in the regional final.

GIRLS SOCCER

Oregon 4, Peoria Christian 1: In the program’s fourth season, the Hawks claimed their second regional title, beating Peoria Christian on the road.

Hadley Lutz scored a pair of goals, and Madisyn Byerley and Alyssa Mowry scored one each for Oregon. Taylar Rufer made seven saves.

The Hawks visit Rockford Christian on Tuesday in the sectional semifinal.

BOYS TENNIS

Three singles players, a doubles team clinch spots at state: The first day of the Class 1A Geneseo tennis sectional saw three area singles players advance to the semifinals – Dixon’s Lucas Healy, Newman’s Marvel Zhang and Sterling’s Brecken Peterson.

Healy opened with a 6-0, 6-1 win over Rock Falls’ Dawson Newendyke, then scored a 6-0, 6-0 win over Rochelle’s Alex Gilbert. He will face Geneseo’s Sam Robinson in Saturday’s semifinal. Robinson got there with straight-set wins over Newman’s Logan Palmer and Sterling’s Connor Pham.

Zhang began his sectional with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Alleman’s Nate Hein, then beat Rochelle’s David Wanner 6-1, 6-0. Peterson beat Dixon’s Landon Juckel 6-2, 6-0 and Geneseo’s Eric Vergane 6-2, 6-2. Zhang will face Peterson in the semifinal.

In doubles play, Dixon’s Leith Elbzour and Logan Moeller will play at state after they beat Alleman’s David Dierickx and Dominic Reagan 6-0, 6-3 and Sterling’s Luke Valentino and Carter Ryan 4-6, 6-4, 6-2. The Dukes face Geneseo’s Mason Miller and Thomas Robinson on Saturday.

Dixon’s other doubles pairing of Owen Grot and Alex Ullrich fell to Mendota’s Logan Brandner and Andrew Stamberger 6-4, 3-6, 6-0 in the quarterfinal. Grot and Ullrich had beaten Sterling’s Kayden Loos and Carter Morris 6-7 (5), 6-0, 6-1 in their opening matchup.

WRESTLING

Polo 39, Winnebago 24: The Marcos scored a win over Winnebago.

Dominic Gabbard got a third-period pin to win his 145-pound bout for Polo. Braydon Altherr won the 160-pound match with a 14-8 decision. At 182, Wayde Reimer got a pin in 1:45.

Erie-Prophetstown earns sweep: The Panthers beat Kewanee 65-18 and St. Bede 54-18.

Against the Boilers, Carter Jepson took the 132-pound match with a third-period pin. Jase Grunder scored a second-period pin at 145. Isaac Goodson scored a first-period pin at 152. Gunnar Wuebben won the 170-pound match via decision.

Against the Bruins, Jepson took a 6-0 decision, while Jacob Gibson won on a second-period pin at 106, Alex Bomleny won on a 5-2 decision at 138, and Elijah Friedrichsen won with a pin in 23 seconds at 285.