Baseball: Aurora Christian, Harvest Christian win regional openers
Sam Tickel went 3-for-3 with a double and 2 RBI and Drew Henning drove in 3 runs Wednesday as the Aurora Christian baseball team opened the Class 2A Rockford Lutheran regional with a 14-4 win over Northridge Prep.
The Eagles (24-5) will take on the winner of Thursday's game between Lutheran and North Boone for the regional title on Saturday.
In Wednesday's win, Drew Wagner (2 hits, 2B, RBI), Tanner Dissell (2 RBI), Ethan Stoneberg (2 hits. 2B, RBI) and Jacob Daley (2 RBI) also contributed to the AC offense.
Stoneberg was the winning pitcher, going 4 innings and allowing 3 hits with 9 strikeouts and 3 walks.
Harvest Christian 16, Schaumburg Christian 6: Brock Wilken had 3 hits with 2 doubles and 4 RBI and Joey Pepper added 2 hits with a home run and 2 RBI to lead the Lions (18-12) to a win at the Class 1A Westminster Christian regional. Grant Young drove in 2 runs for Harvest while Jack Nohava had 2 hits and 2 RBI and Zach Pawelek added 3 hits and an RBI. Drew Lewis picked up the win on the mound for the Lions, who will play the winner of Thursday's game between Westminster Christian and Christian Liberty in Saturday's title game.
Streamwood 3, Larkin 1: Colin Caminitti tossed a 5-hitter with 5 strikeouts and a walk as the Sabres (9-20, 8-15) took 2 of 3 from Larkin in their Upstate Eight River series. Keagan Cordone had 2 hits with a double and an RBI for Streamwood and Ryan Fitzgerald added 2 hits. Joey Rahn had a double for Larkin (8-23, 4-19) and Cy Kerber took the loss on the mound.
Bartlett 6, East Aurora 0: Brandon Kendall threw a 1-hitter with 8 strikeouts and no walks to lead the Hawks (13-17, 10-10) to a UEC Valley sweep of East Aurora. Tripp Paris had 2 hits with a double for Bartlett, Brad Nowak added 2 hits and an RBI, Scott Palmer had 2 hits and an RBI and Jimmy Johnson had 2 hits with a double and 2 RBI.
West Aurora 6, West Chicago 2: Ryan Becker went 3-for-3 and Jake Arsenault had 2 hits with a double to lead the Blackhawks (12-14, 10-10) to this UEC Valley win. Jake Lipscomb added a double for West Aurora and Win Kipp picked up the victory on the mound, going 6 innings and allowing 5 hits with 8 strikeouts and no walks.
Huntley 4, Dundee-Crown 1: In the FVC Valley, Nick Laxner allowed just 4 hits with 8 strikeouts and 2 walks for Huntley (18-13, 9-8). Adam Smylie had a double and 2 RBI for the Red Raiders and Noah Konie added 2 hits and an RBI. Jim Welzien had an RBI for Dundee-Crown (13-15, 8-9).
Geneva 6, Yorkville 5: Matthew Simpson had 3 hits with a double and 2 RBI and Dylan Baer added a double and 2 RBI for the Vikings (20-10) in this nonconference win. Justin Hasegawa had a triple and Bryan Callaly picked up the win in relief for Geneva, which notched its 11th 20-win season in the last 12 years.
Burlington Central 10, DeKalb 2: Josh Noeska hit a 3-run home run, Craig Schuring had 3 hits with an RBI and Ryan Knowlton added 2 hits with a double and 3 RBI as the Rockets (19-10) won this nonconference game. Clay Milas added 2 hits with a double for BC and David Lauber picked up the pitching win, allowing 4 hits with 4 strikeouts and 1 walk in 6 innings.
Hampshire 5, Morris 2: Jacob Manning had 2 hits with a double and an RBI for Hampshire (18-13) in this nonconference win. Michael Bowen was the winning pitcher, going 4 innings and allowing 2 hits with 4 strikeouts and 1 walk.
Loyola 8, Marmion 6: In the Chicago Catholic League, Chase Stanke had 3 hits with a double and 2 RBI for Marmion (9-21). Also producing for the Cadets were Brandon McPherson (2B, RBI), Jon Young (2 hits, RBI), Matt Henkel (2B), Trevor Taus (2B) and Mike Szalek (2B).