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Living the dream - When it comes to high school sports, Lockport Township's Gabe Czako certainly is. The senior had the experience of a lifetime this fall. He's been an intricate part of not one but two of the most successful sports teams in Lockport history. Czako is a top defender and one of the captains on the Porter soccer team (20-2), which brought home the first state trophy in program history this past weekend when they placed third with a 2-1 win over Morton in Class...
Plainfield – Plainfield South High School wrestlers senior Lexi Janiak and freshman Keira Enright will make history this weekend when they wrestle in the inaugural Illinois High School Association (IHSA) girls state wrestling tournament. The girls IHSA individual state and dual team state finals are Friday, February 25 and Saturday, February 26, 2022, in Bloomington. Janiak and Enright will wrestle individually. Janiak's brother, PSHS sophomore Matthew Janiak, wrestled to s...
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While Aaron Larkins, Jr. was the obvious star in Plainfield Central's 17-6 Southwest Prairie Conference East Division victory over Plainfield East on Saturday in the Wildcats' homecoming contest, the senior running back was quick to give credit to the linemen that helped open up a lot of running room for him. All Larkins did was rush for 258 yards on 44 carries and caught a pass for 13 yards and capped his day with a three-yard touchdown with 1:36 left to give his team a 17-0...
For some high school sophomores, just making the varsity team is the highlight of the season. For Plainfield East’s Brady Louck, he did more than just make the team, he made people take notice. Louck pitched in two of the Bengals’ biggest games of the season — and dominated both of them — helping East turn a bad start to the season into an IHSA Class 4A state championship. The lefty pitched East into the state finals with a commanding performance against Brother Rice for...
Wrigley – it is a name people know as the name of a baseball stadium on Chicago's north side or as the chewing gum company from where the stadium earned its name. Add to that list the name of the third baseman for the Joliet Catholic Academy softball team. If it wasn't known already, freshman Wrigley Fanter made her name known in the softball world with a 5-for-7 day in the IHSA Class 2A tournament Wednesday afternoon. Fanter was 3-4 in the Angels' 5-0 semifinal win over Unity...
Plainfield East super-sophomore left-hander, Brady Louck is a man of very few words. The 16-year old Louck lets his powerful left arm and his powerful bat at the plate do his talking for him. On Monday night in the Class 4A Crestwood Supersectional, Louck fired a two-hit shutout, striking out 13 top-seeded Brother Rice (29-11) hitters and led his No.13-seeded Bengals (17-15) to a 3-0 victory and the first-ever state final four appearance for East. At the plate, Louck had a per...
In the sectional semifinal, the Minooka softball team showed its ability to use a big inning for a come-from-behind win. In the Illinois State University Supersectioal Monday, the Indians used strong pitching and small ball to get past SPC West foe Yorkville 5-1 and punch their second trip to the state finals in school history. Up next is date with Lincoln-Way Central, who defeated Minooka 11-1 on April 22. The Knights defeated St. Charles North 5-4 in Orland Park to with thei...
In a dominating 5-0 performance over Unity High School from Tolono, Joliet Catholic Academy punched its ticket to the IHSA Class 2A finals to be held at Louisville Slugger complex in Peoria at 5 p.m. tonight. The Angels opened the scoring in the top of the first when senior pitcher Andie Broniewicz drove in Wrigley Fanter and Charlie Kinsella to give JCA a lead it would never squander. Broniewicz went to work, tossing her second consecutive shutout and improving to 18-6 with...
When the IHSA Class 4A postseason started, the Minooka girls softball team entered with a record of 11-13 and coming off a fourth-place finish in the SPC West. With a regular season like that, there were not many people who thought the Indians had a chance at a regional title. Minooka claimed the regional title, used a pair of comebacks in the sectional - including their post-lighting delay rally to win the title over Belleville East and then drubbed a Yorkville team that they...
There is one thing that the 2021 Joliet Catholic Academy Angels varsity soccer team likes to do more than anything and that is scoring goals. Entering Friday's IHSA Class 2A State Semifinal at Fremd High School, the Angels averaged 5.9 goals-per-game. In their 3-game Class 2A sectional sweep of Ottawa (14-0) Oak Forest (7-1) and Lemont (10-0), the average was an unheard of 10.1 goals-per-game. JCA was more would be angelic, taking it easy on Peoria Notre Dame in Monday's...
When history looks back at the 2021 Plainfield East varsity baseball team, the only word that will be used to describe the improbable run to a state championship is 'Amazing.' A No. 13 in the Class 4A Crestwood Supersectional complex few, if any, thought the baseball world would witness what it did at 9:28 p.m. on Saturday, June 19 at DuPage Medical Group Field in Joliet. Leading the 31-3 Lake Park Lancers 6-5 in the top of the seventh, Bengals closer, junior Christian...
The Joliet Catholic Academy girls soccer team continued to advance through the IHSA Class 2A playoffs with a 4-1 win over Peoria Notre Dame in the Class 2A Mendota Supersectional match Monday. The Angels(15-1-1) got a pair of goals and an assist from Emma Gruber, a goal and assist from Morgan Furmaniak and a goal from Alaina Wildenradt to advance to face St. Ignatius College Prep in a 12:30 p.m. Friday semifinal at Fremd High School in Palatine. St. Viator and Troy (Triad) are in the other semifinal. The winners will face...
On a cool Memorial Day morning in Downers Grove, the West Suburban Conference Silver Division champions from Hinsdale Central squared off with the WSC Gold champions from Downers Grove South. No WSC championship game implications were involved in the game. Hinsdale Central (19-3) exploded for six runs in the top of the third inning for a 6-0 lead and held off the host Mustangs (23-3) for a 7-6 WSC crossover win. After the Red Devils scored six in the top of the third inning, the Mustangs pulled within 6-2 on a RBI double...
In their final Southwest Prairie Conference crossover on Saturday, the SPC West's Plainfield North Tigers and the SPC East's Plainfield South Cougars met in another edition of Plainfield's Civil War. Trailing 1-0 as the game entered the bottom of the fourth, the Tigers (16-9) scored seven runs, six after two outs, and roll to a 7-1 victory. Plainfield North starting and winning pitcher Ethan Cook (3-1) allowed an unearned run and three hits in his game-winning, 5 2/3 innings of work on the mound. Junior Alec Mickenbecker clos...
Charity was on full display in Wednesday's Central Suburban League South battle between the CSL South co-leaders from Maine South and their arch rivals from New Trier. On Tuesday at historic Duke Childs Field in Winnetka, Maine South (19-11, 11-4) scored five times in the top of the first and went on to crush the rival Trevians 11-1 in six innings. On Wednesday in Park Ridge, in the top of the first inning, New Trier (18-11, 9-6) scored nine runs on just four hits to open a seemingly insurmountable 9-0 lead after 1/2 inning....
After Oswego's 14-1 in five-inning, Southwest Prairie Conference West victory over Minooka on Monday, the Panthers (17-6, 10-4) were one victory away from an SPC West series win and an outright SPC West title. On Tuesday at Oswego's Jackie's Field of Dreams, the host Panthers defeated the Indians 1-0. With the win, the Panthers wrap up the best-of-three SPC West series and claim the 2021 outright SPC West championship. The two clubs will conclude their three game series in Minooka on Thursday. A Minooka (15-10, 9-5) win on...
A year ago, the Joliet West baseball team was ready to compete. The Tigers were coming off a loss in the regional championship game and had several key players back. That season, however, was lost to the pandemic protocol set forth by the State of Illinois and the Illinois High School Association. Entering the 2021 season, West knew it had a few talented players, but there were a lot of question marks — namely could a conference pitching rotation that saw 6-foot, 8-inch sophomore Conner Hogan as the elder of the staff be e...
Opportunity lost? A definite yes The SPC West-leading Minooka Indians had a one-game lead over the second place Panthers of Oswego heading into the first of three SPC West season-ending games with the Panthers on Monday. With a win the Indians would clinch at least a share of the SPC West title. Oswego (16-6, 9-4) scored 12-runs in the top of the fourth inning and went on to crush the Indians 14-1 in five innings to pull into a first-place tie with Minooka (15-9, 9-4) atop the SPC West standings. Opportunity lost. "We had a c...
In the first of two Southwest Suburban Conference Blue Division showdowns between the SWSC Blue first place Lincoln-Way East Griffins (19-2, 3-0) and the second place Lockport Porters (13-9, 2-2), Griffins won 12-2 in five innings. After Griffins starting, and winning, left-handed pitcher Joey Bolton (8-0) set the Porters down 1-2-3 in the top of the first, the Griffins bats went to work against Porters junior starting pitcher David Zaragoza. L-W East scored five runs, highlighted by a three-run homer by Griffins third...
Entering Monday's crucial Southwest Prairie Conference Eastern Division three-game series, the Tigers of Joliet West and the defending SPC champion Cougars of Plainfield South were tied atop the SPC East with identical 8-1 records. In 11 thrilling-innings on Monday, on Plainfield's south side, the Tigers slipped past the Cougars 2-1. On Tuesday, on Joliet's West Side, the Tigers won going away 8-4 as Mother Nature provided an annoying, seven-inning drizzle on the proceedings. On Thursday, back in Plainfield, Joliet West...
WEST SUBURBAN GOLD DOWNERS GROVE SOUTH 10 ADDISON TRAIL 0 (FIVE INNINGS) Another five-inning WSC Gold affair for the Mustangs (14-1, 12-1). Senior Noah Edders (1-0) fired a one-hitter with eight strikeouts at the over-matched Trailblazers (5-6, 4-4). Senior Cole Wareheim singled, hit his second home run and drove home two Mustang runs, while Maxx Palenik and John Szalko each singled and had two RBI. Edders helped himself at the plate with a single, double and an RBI. SOUTHWEST PRAIRIE EAST PLAINFIELD CENTRAL 7 ROMEOVILLE 1 Th...
In a May where the weather has been nothing shy of cold for many high school baseball games, there has been some heat on the area diamonds. Two of the hottest players around teamed up to form the Joliet West battery Monday night at as the Tigers traveled to rival Joliet Central for the first in a three-game series with the rival Steelmen. The duo did not disappoint. Six-foot, 7-inch sophomore lefty Conner Hogan went into the game with an area-leading four wins and ran that...
On May 3 about 5:15 p.m., Minooka High School varsity baseball coach Jeff Petrovic, joined an elite group of Illinois high school baseball coaches with 400 coaching wins. Petrovic's Indians, in a game that resembled an IHSA Class 4A supersectional, defeated Plainfield North and friend, head coach John Darlington, 2-1. The game epitomized the three elements of baseball that Petrovic and all his associate coaches have been teaching Minooka Indian teams, for 18 years - great...
On an unseasonably cold, windy May afternoon, Plainfield South senior right hander Will Morris toed the rubber versus Plainfield East senior right-hander Gavin Schmitt. In a classic pitcher's-duel, Morris (3-0) out-dueled Schmitt as the top-ranked Cougars (10-1, 6-1) prevailed 2-1 over the valiant Bengals (5-9, 3-4) The game was the first of three of this week's Southwest Prairie East series. All three runs allowed in the contest were unearned. Morris allowed two hits and Schmitt allowed three. Schmitt struck out a career...