Softball: Bowen, Vernon Hills hit their way into regional final

Delaney Bowen homered and tripled, and Vernon Hills' softball team beat CICS/Northtown 16-0 in five innings in a semifinal of the Class 3A Vernon Hills regional on Thursday.

The Cougars' 20-hit attack also included a 4-for-4 effort by Sami Saliba, who had double. Dana Meline (double), Sammi Hansen (3 RBI), Hannah Monteith, Danielle Comitor (2 doubles) and Tatiana Guletsky (2 RBI) each had a pair of hits.

Comitor pitched 3 no-hit innings, striking out four and walking one. No. 6 Vernon Hills, which scored 10 runs in the bottom of the first, will play No. 3 Lakes in the regional final at 11 a.m. Saturday.

Palatine 6, Grayslake Central 1: At Warren, a 4-run top of the second was the difference, as the 11th-seeded Pirates advanced to Friday's 3:30 p.m. Class 4A regional final against the host school.

Rams pitcher Reagen Radke struck out nine, didn't walk a batter and allowed only 1 earned run. No. 6 Grayslake Central committed 6 errors and struck out 10 times against Palatine's Maddie Craver.

Stevenson 3, Loyola 1: At Lake Forest, the ninth-seeded Patriots knocked off the No. 8 seed to earn a berth in Saturday's 11 a.m. regional final against top-seeded Libertyville.

Crystal Lake South 4, Grant 3: At Dundee-Crown, the sixth-seeded Gators scored 3 runs in the top of the seventh to snap a 1-1 tie in the Class 4A regional semifinal.

Calista Warmowski was 2-for-2 with 2 walks for No. 4 Grant (18-15). Erin Bengston had a double.