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Wednesday's prep highlights: Kennedy helps deliver Big 12 baseball win for Maroons

joe vozzelli, the news-gazette, champaign-urbana, ill.
·7 min read

May 2—Arcola 22, Blue Ridge 0. Tanner Thomas (2 for 3, two runs, three RBI) and Jackson Griffith (3 for 4, two RBI) keyed the offensive onslaught for the Purple Riders.

Bismarck-Henning/Rossville-Alvin 4, Milford 0. The Blue Devils worked around issuing seven walks in the shutout home victory in Vermilion Valley Conference play. Anderson Thomas was one of three pitchers BHRA used with the left-hander lasting five innings despite five walks and two hits. Thomas did so with nine strikeouts. Micah Stanford went 1 for 3 with a triple and two RBI.

Champaign Central 2, Bloomington 1. Patrick Kennedy helped the Maroons win a Big 12 pitchers' duel at home after seven five-hit, one-run innings where he struck out four and walked three. The Purple Raiders' run against Kennedy was unearned. Chris Timmons and Sam McArthur each had a double and drove in Central's two runs with an RBI apiece.

Fisher 4, St. Thomas More 3. Cody Hinton (two hits) and Brayden Mowry (two RBI) led the host Bunnies at the plate in the victory. Jacob Chittick was steady on the mound, as well, to earn the win with 62/3 innings with seven hits, one walk and five strikeouts. Hayden Bates was the top hitter for the Sabers with two hits, including a solo home run.

Monticello 10, Tuscola 0. Monticello (25-2) kept up its winning ways, doing most of its damage early, including a five-run first inning. Luke Teschke and Ike Young both hit home runs in the win, with Teschke delivering two RBI, two hits and two runs scored. Young also drove in a pair of runs. Carter Foran, Jacob Long and Raiden Colbert combined in the three-hitter on the mound in the five-inning home victory with the Sages' trio of pitchers also striking out nine batters. Jon Pettry had two hits to lead the Warriors.

Okaw Valley 13, LeRoy 3. Cole Wilson (two hits, an RBI) and Tate Harden (two hits) led the way in a losing effort on the road for the Panthers (8-14).

St. Joseph-Ogden 15, Herscher 1. The Spartans (24-2) broke the nonconference game open with an eight-run third inning en route to the lopsided five-inning win. Luke Landrus and Bryson Houchens both launched home runs to lead SJ-O, as Landrus went 1 for 4 with three RBI and Houchens, who also had a pair of doubles, was 3 for 3 with three RBI while also scoring three runs. Logan Rosenthal (2 for 3, two runs, three RBI) chipped in, as well, with a triple a part of the right fielder's two-hit game. Landrus was the winning pitcher after he worked around three walks and two hits by striking out three and allowing a run in three innings.

Watseka 11, Georgetown-Ridge Farm 3. Brayden Ketchum was 3 for 3 with three RBI and three runs, while Austin Marcier, Myles Lynch and Lathan Westerfield had two RBI each in the Vermilion Valley home win. Lynch also got the win on the mound after six innings pitched, during which he allowed three runs on three hits with two walks and eight strikeouts.

Westville 15, Cissna Park 0. Cameron Steinbaugh had a double and a triple among his three hits and the Tigers' shortstop also scored three runs and walked once in the four-inning Vermilion Valley home win for Westville (19-5-1). Drew Wichtowski, Easton Barney and Cade Schaumburg supplied two RBI apiece, with Barney also earning the win on the mound after giving up only two hits, walking one and striking out two.

Arcola 3, Blue Ridge 2. The Purple Riders walked off with a Lincoln Prairie Conference home win after the game-winning run scored on an error. Kacie Sisk notched the win for Arcola with 13 strikeouts in the complete game with Sisk permitting six hits and two runs over seven innings. Ava Simpson, Kaydence Nichols and Sisk accounted for all three of Purple Riders' hits at the plate with Simpson producing a double and Sisk legging out a triple. Ellie Schlieper (1 for 3, RBI) and Karlee Fenton (1 for 3, one RBI) led the Knights with Schlieper also receiving the tough-luck loss in the circle after lasting six innings and getting tagged with three unearned runs to go with three hits, four walks and five strikeouts.

Champaign Central 14, Rantoul 5. The Maroons received a home run and three RBI from Tayten Hunter, four RBI from Molly Kloeppel and two hits and two RBI from Kaitlyn Helm to produce a home nonconference win. Josie Roseman (3 for 4, two RBI) led Rantoul.

Fisher 14, Milford/Cissna Park 4. Peyton Murphy and Brooklyn Kellems keyed the host Bunnies, who scored in all but one of the six innings in the 10-run win. Murphy had three hits, two RBI and one run, while Kellems added two hits, two RBI and one run. Addison Lucht finished 2 for 3 with a home run and two RBI to lead the Bearcats (16-4).

Monticello 9, Maroa-Forsyth 3. Reese Patton was 1 for 3 with three RBI, Lynnsey Trybom had two RBI and the Sages collected the win at home. Cassidee Stoffel notched the win after allowing three runs while striking out three during her seven innings in the cirlce.

Tuscola 12, Villa Grove 10. The Warriors won a wild back-and-forth nonconference road game that came down to the final at-bats. Tuscola held on for close win after the Blue Devils pushed across two runs in the bottom half of the seventh inning before the Warriors closed it out. Kinzie Cleland was 2 for 5 with three RBI, and Zoey Thomason and Cailin Munson had two RBI each. Ava Boyer added three walks and three runs scored. Piper Kiser (1 for 5, two RBI) and Isabella Dodd keyed Villa Grove with Dodd also hitting a solo home run while finishing 2 for 3 at the plate with three runs and two walks.

Watseka 10, Donovan 0. Brianna Denault was dangerous at the plate with two doubles and three RBI on a 3-for-3 hitting performance, while Christa Holohan was a problem on the basepaths with three stolen bases in addition to three hits in four at-bats — including a double — with three runs scored in the win for the host Warriors (14-4). Sarah Parsons tossed five scoreless innings, striking out four and walking two while permitting just one hit.

Unity 8, Mt. Zion 7. Ruby Tarr keyed the Rockets to a road win by slugging a home run and tallying three RBI and two hits, while Kenley Harris also had three RBI to go with a double as Unity (16-6-1) built a 7-1 lead and held on the rest of the way.

Westville 14, Georgetown-Ridge Farm 1. Layla Atwood was a home run short of the cycle with Atwood amassing a single, double and triple as part of a team-leading three-hit performance in the road Vermilion Valley Conference win. Atwood added two RBI, with Dannika Hamer also driving in a pair of runs for the Tigers. Laney Cook, Madison Jones, Lilly Kiesel and Abby Sabalaskey also had two hits apiece for Westville (21-2). Lilly Kiesel notched the win in the circle after allowing three hits and one run (unearned) in six innings with two walks and eight strikeouts.

Arthur Christian 2, Charleston 1. Malaya Brady and Phoenix Kelmel both delivered goals for the Conquering Riders, while Libby Henry had 10 saves in the road win.

Uni High 5, Warrensburg-Latham 0. Anna Williams and Cali Cooper both shined with two goals apiece, while Annika Deschler closed out the scoring with a goal for the Illineks, who took a 3-0 lead at halftime. Cooper added an assist in the home victory. Xenia Mongwa and Cora Lewis-Patterson combined for the shutout with Mongwa producing three saves.