Here are five storylines to watch during the 2026 softball season across The Herald-News area.

Despite being rattled at times, Benet showed the poise and execution that it needed to at key moments in topping Bolingbrook in the Class 4A Bolingbrook Sectional title game on Friday night.

Hundreds of residents showed up to City Hall for the Joliet Plan Commission's special meeting on the proposed data center development on Thursday, March 5, 2026.

Brady Pettigrew scored a game-high 25 points and Bolingbrook beat Neuqua Valley 68-53 in the Class 4A Bolingbrook Sectional

Wheaton Academy rode its defense early, then the Warriors' offense caught up in posting a 46-40 win over Providence in a Class 3A Hinsdale South Sectional semifinal Wednesday.

Lockport missed its first 16 shots and didn't connect on a field goal for nearly 14 minutes, digging a hole it couldn't climb out of in a 59-33 loss to Marist at the Class 4A Joliet West Sectional on Wednesday.

St. Francis' boys basketball team entered the postseason with a losing record and a No. 7 seed, but now finds itself in the sectional championship after a Tuesday win over Lemont.

Providence Catholic lost for the first time this season to a Class 3A team, losing a supersectional contest to Washington on Monday, 73-47.

For the second year in a row, the IC Catholic Prep boys wrestling team won the Class 2A state championship Saturday after beating Providence 39-25 in the championship match at Bloomington’s Grossinger Motors Arena.