In a game heard on WHOW, WEZC, and online at dewittdailynews.com, a bases-loaded walk was the winning run as Clinton picked up one of its biggest wins on the baseball diamond in recent memory and secured its first 20-win season since 2007, blanking Monticello 1-0 in nine innings Wednesday afternoon from the Wilkie Complex in Monticello. 

After a pitchers duel with limited opportunities for both teams, the Maroons broke through in the top of the ninth inning drawing two walks against Sages starter Carter Foran, who was working into the ninth inning. Then Jacob Long relieved and walked the first two batters he faced to bring home the only run of the game.

Brock Wilson was superb for Clinton on the mound. The sophomore went 7 1/3 shutout innings allowing two hits with a walk and six strikeouts.

Foran went 8 1/3 innings and was responsible for the only run scored by Clinton. The Monticello junior allowed three hits, two walks and struck out five.

First-year Clinton Coach Nate Ennis was proud of his team's grit throughout a hard-fought game.

With a runner on and nobody out in the sixth inning, Monticello leadoff hitter and Illinois State-commit Luke Teschke was called on to bunt. The senior delivered a successful sacrifice to move the runner over but the Sages could not capitalize. 

In the bottom of the ninth inning, and a runner on and one out, Monticello cleanup batter Colton Vance was then called upon to sacrifice bunt and popped out at the plate. Coach Ennis felt it was those felt like it was a win already.

Coach Ennis gave his sophomore pitchers praise for their poise in a tough environment, particularly Jack Manning who came on in relief to close out the win.

Clinton goes to 20-8 overall. Monticello drops to 28-3 overall. 

The two teams could meet in a potential Regional Championship next weekend as they are seeded in the same Regional at Monticello High School.

Hear Clinton postseason baseball action on WHOW and all its digital platforms starting next Thursday when they take on Tri-Valley at 4:30 pm from Monticello High School. 

Hear Monticello postseason baseball on WEZC and dewittdailynews.com when they play at 4:30 pm at Monticello High School.

Wyatt Mammen came up an out short of a complete game as Lincoln shutout Pleasant Plains 6-0 in non-conference high school baseball action in Lincoln Wednesday.

Mammen struck out six and walked six while permitting three hits in 6 2/3 shutout innings. 

Trey Schilling finished 1-for-3 with a double and two RBIs. Jarrett Evers was 1-for-4 with a pair of RBIs. Colby Glenn went 2-for-3 with a double, a walk and two runs scored for the Railsplitters. Michael Lucas also drove in a run for Lincoln.

The Railers did all its scoring early. They scored three runs in the first capped by a two-run double from Schilling. Lincoln would tack on three more runs in the fourth.

The Railsplitters earned the top seed in its Regional. They will take on Urbana in Regional semifinal play starting Wednesday, May 22 at Lincoln High School.

Lincoln travels to Auburn for a non-conference tilt this afternoon.

A game that made it through five innings but was suspended last week was finished off Wednesday at Mt. Pulaski blanked Illini Bluffs 3-0 in Tomahawk Conference high school baseball action Wednesday. 

Chance Payne finished off a complete game shutout going the distance while allowing two hits, walking four, and striking out eight. 

Liam Smith capped a two-run third inning with an RBI single and went 1-for-3. Evan Cooper drove in a run while Landon Smith, Chance Payne, and Luke Martin added hits for the Hilltoppers.

Mt. Pulaski goes to 22-1 overall and 3-0 in the Tomahawk Conference. They will host El Paso-Gridley this afternoon.

Thea Key's fourth-inning home run was all the backing Cassidee Stoeffel needed as Monticello took down Mattoon 1-0 in non-conference high school softball action from the Wilke Complex in Monticello Wednesday.

Key also doubled and walked to finish 2-for-3. Sadie Walsh was 2-for-3 at the top of the order for the Lady Sages.

Stoeffel permitted four hits, a walk and struck out four across her seven sparkling innings. 

The win is the fifth straight for Monticello who finishes the regular season 18-12. It's off to postseason play when the Lady Sages take on Tolono Unity at the St. Joseph-Ogden Regional next Wednesday. 

Jonah Roper struck out 13 in a complete game shutout effort and a four run-fourth inning was enough for Normal Community to wrap up the Big 12 Conference regular season title with a 4-0 win over Peoria Notre Dame Wednesday at Normal Community High School.

The Ironmen got RBIs from Owen Cavanaugh, two from Anthony Gura, and Josh Eisfelder. 

Roper permitted five hits and issued two walks. 

Luke Drengwitz was 1-for-3 with a double for Normal. Kaileb Hackman was 2-for-4 with a run scored. Ryan Theile finished 2-for-3 while Dexter Niekamp was 1-for-1 with a walk.

The Ironmen are 28-3 overall and 16-0 in the Big 12. They will travel to Peoria Notre Dame on Friday.

Two Normal West pitchers combined to limit Champaign Centennial to just one run and four hits as the Wildcats grounded the Chargers 4-1 in Big 12 Conference high school baseball action from Champaign Wednesday.

Sam Berine allowed an unearned run in 5 1/3 innings while permitting three hits, three walks, and struck out four. Ryder Coone struck out four in 1 2/3 innings.

Sam DesCarpentrie paced Normal West finishing a home run short of the cycle going 3-for-3 with a double, a triple, an RBI, and a run scored.

Jaxson Crancer finished 3-for-4 with two doubles, a stolen base, an RBI, and two runs scored. 

Bradyn Whiteheaddrove in two runs for the Wildcats while Chase Knuth had the other RBI finishing 1-for-4. 

Normal West is 17-12 overall and 11-6 in the Big 12 Conference. They will host the Chargers on Friday.

With Clinton's win Monday over Warresburg-Latham, the Clinton Maroons won its first conference title since 2004.

Back then, Clinton was in the old Okaw Valley, but the Maroons went 8-2 in the Central Illinois Conference in 2024 and Coach Nate Ennis credits his team's positive attitude through the ups and downs of a baseball season.

The Maroons start Regional play next week and Clinton is in perhaps the toughest sub-sectional in Class 2A. That's the assessment of Coach Ennis who indicates his team is going to have to play well to get through Tri-Valley and possibly Monticello in Monticello next week.

The Maroons head to Monticello to get a preview of its Regional next week. They take on the Sages at the Wilkie Complex on Monticello's turf baseball field. Game time today is 4:30 pm. Hear the action on WHOW/WEZC/dewittdailynews.com as well all of WHOW's digital platforms.

Lincoln put away Decatur MacArthur with a 12-run fourth inning for a 16-4 five inning, run-rule Central State Eight Conference win yesterday in high school baseball action in Lincoln.

Trey Schilling and Jarrett Evers drove in three runs apiece. Evers was 2-for-2 with a double, stolen base, and three runs scored. Schilling was 2-for-3 with a double and run scored.

Michael Lucas finished 2-for-3 with three stolen bases, three runs scored, and two RBIs. Drew Hayes finished 2-for-4 with a double, two RBIs and a stolen base for the Railsplitters.

Brenden Wurth drove in a run and Dyllan Hayes doubled and stole a base as well for Lincoln. 

Ferguson struck out eight in three innings of work. He allowed four runs, two were earned, on two hits with two walks.

The Railsplitters have won 12 of its last 14 games to go to 17-8 overall and 5-3 in the Central State Eight. Lincoln hosts Pleasant Plains today - who wrapped up the Sangamo Conference championship on Tuesday.

Cassidee Stoeffel's big day at the plate paced Monticello to a 13-2 romp over Mahomet-Seymour in non-conference high school softball action in Monticello Tuesday.

Stoeffel was 3-for-4 with a pair of home runs, seven RBIs, and added a stolen base for good measure. Sadie Walsh was a home run short of the cycle as the sophomore went 3-for-4 with a double, triple, three RBIs and three runs scored.

Marrissa Miller went 3-for-3 with an RBI and three runs scored. Lynnsee Trybom went 2-for-3 with a run scored for the Lady Sages.

Reese Patton fired five innings of two-run ball. The senior capped off her regular season home career by permitting six hits but did not walk a batter and did not record a strikeout.

Monticello is 17-12 overall. They will host Mattoon to wrap up the regular season this afternoon. 

Jaxon Reynolds' run-scoring single in the bottom of the eighth inning gave Clinton a 3-2 walk-off victory of Warrensburg-Latham in Central Illinois Conference high school baseball action from Clinton Monday afternoon.

Noah Bass' RBI single in the bottom of the sixth inning tied the game at 2-2 and forced the game to extra innings. Mason Walker gave Clinton a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third.

Walker struck out ten in 4 2/3 innings of two-run ball. One run was earned on two with six walks. 

Preston Curtis held the Cardinals scoreless through 3 1/3 innings with three walks and three strikeouts.

Colton Walker was 2-for-3 with a double, two stolen bases, and a run scored. Josh Bass returned to the Clinton lineup and finished 2-for-3 with a double. 

Ryne Pine had two stolen bases and Brock Wilson added a stolen base.

The Maroons are 19-8 overall and 8-2 in the Central Illinois Conference. Clinton will host Maroa-Forsyth on Tuesday.

Ashley Armstrong was brilliant in circle for Clinton and led the Lady Maroons to a 2-1 win over Champaign Centennial in non-conference high school softball action from Clinton Monday.

Armstrong struck out nine in six innings of one-run ball. The senior issued two walks and permitted two hits. Aliviyah Haynes struck out two in a scoreless inning of relief to preserve the win for Clinton.

Heidi Humble drove in a run and Avery Smith finished 2-for-3. Brooke Reeves was 1-for-3 with a double and run scored and Haynes finished 1-for-2 with the only walk on the day for Clinton.

The Lady Maroons 10-13 overall. They will finish the regular season by hosting Tuscola on Thursday.

Monticello took down rival St. Joseph-Ogden 9-5 and clinched the Illini Prairie Conference regular season title with a 9-5 win Monday in St. Joseph.

Luke Teschke fired six innings of two-run ball and Koyie Williams drove in four runs. Teschke struck out seven, walked two, and permitted five hits. The Illinois State-commit also walked three times. 

Williams was 2-for-5 while Jacob Long finished 1-for-3 with a double and two runs scored. Dylan Brown went 1-for-4 with three RBIs for the Sages. 

Monticello improves to 28-2 overall and finishes 8-1 in the Illini Prairie Conference. They host Clinton on Wednesday afternoon. Hear Wednesday's action on WHOW/WEZC/dewittdailynews.com as well as all of WHOWs digital platforms. 

Lincoln started fast and didn't look back, rolling to a 10-0 six inning, run-rule win over Rantoul in non-conference high school baseball action from Lincoln Monday.

The Railsplitters scored three runs in each of the first two frames and continued to add on from there. Micheal Lucas and Trey Schilling each doubled twice. Lucas drove in two and scored three runs. Schilling was 3-for-3 with an RBI, a stolen base, and a run scored. Colby Glenn finished 2-for-5 with an RBI, stolen base, and run scored.

Lincoln is 16-8 overall. They host Decatur MacArthur in Central State Eight Conference play on Tuesday.

Normal Community edged its crosstown rival Bloomington 3-2 in Big 12 high school baseball action from Bloomington High School on Monday. 

Owen Cavanaugh paced the Ironmen with a 2-for-3 afternoon including two RBIs and a stolen base. Josh Eisfelder drove in the other run for Normal.

Luke Klunke went six innings allowing two unearned runs on three hits with four strikeouts and two walks. 

Tyler Dowling went six innings for the Purple Raiders permitting three runs on four hits with four walks and six strikeouts.

Bloomington drops to 14-13 overall and 9-7 in the Big 12.

The Ironmen are 27-3 overall and 15-0 in the Big 12. They host Peoria Notre Dame on Wednesday before traveling to Peoria to take on Notre Dame on Friday.

Peoria Richwoods shut out Normal West 6-0 in Big 12 high school baseball action in Peoria Monday afternoon.

Blake Crancer finished 3-for-4 with a double and two stolen bases. Jaxon Crancer was 2-for-3. 

The Wildcats fall to 16-12 overall and 10-6 in Big 12 play. Normal West travels to Champaign to take on Centennial on Wednesday. 

Strong starting pitching Saturday helped Normal Community sweep a double dip with Andrew (Tinley Park) 6-2, 3-0 from Normal Community High School in non-conference high school baseball action.

In the opener, Brady Bengston allowed a run on six hits with no walks and five strikeouts. 

Josh Eisfelder paced the offense with two runs batted in finishing 1-for-2. Kaileb Hackman, Riley Hendren, and Owen Cavanaugh had doubles for the Ironmen. Anthony Gura and Lucas Drengwitz added RBIs.

In the second game, Jack Richards was lights out over 4 1/3 innings of shutout ball for Normal. He struck out three while issuing two walks and permitting five hits. 

Reid Johnson and Gavin Borne had RBIs for Normal. Drew Stevens hit a double.

Normal Community did not have a player record multiple hits in either game. 

The second game of the day was only five innings. 

With the two wins, Normal Community improves to 26-3 overall. They resume Big 12 play today traveling to Bloomington High School. The two inner city rivals played to an 11-10, eight inning thriller on Friday.

Normal West went on the road Saturday morning and split a doubleheader - taking the opener 8-1 but falling in walk-off fashion in the second game, 9-8 from Bourbonnais in non-conference high school baseball action.

Sam DesCarpentrie doubled twice and drove in two. Jaxson Crancer doubled, drove in three and finished 1-for-3 adding a stolen base for the Wildcats and Blake Crancer was 1-for-4 with a double, two RBIs and a stolen base. 

Bradyn Whitehead added an RBI in the opener. 

Chase Reinhart got the win for Normal West going 6 1/3 innings of one run ball. The run was unearned and the freshman struck out eight, walked three and allowed four hits.

In the second game, after Normal West blew the game open with a five-run fifth inning to go up 8-6, Caleb McBurnie doubled in the winning run giving Bradley-Bourbonnais the walk-off win in a five-inning contest.

Jaxson Crancer again paced the Wildcats' offense going 2-for-4 with a double, three RBIs, two stolen bases and two runs scored. Sean Jenkins was 1-for-2 with two RBIs and a stolen base while Bradyn Whitehead and Taylor Hafermann hit doubles. Brady Hart and Reinhart had RBIs for Normal West in the loss.

Of the nine runs permitted by Wildcats pitching, only one was earned. The Wildcats issued seven walks in the second game. 

Normal West is 16-11 overall. They travel to Peoria Richwoods this afternoon.

Washington pulled away late in the first game of a doubleheader with Bloomington High School Saturday and then made quick work of the Purple Raiders in the second game to sweep two in non-conference high school baseball action from Bloomington High School.

The Panthers extended a 6-1 lead to 11-1 in the top of the sixth inning with a five-run frame and wrapped up the run-rule win for the opener.

Zach Spidle had the only RBI for Bloomington in the opener. 

The Purple Raiders defense struggled, committing four errors. 

Washington was paced by Bradyn Vanderheydt who was 3-for-3 with three runs scored in the ninth spot. Seth Harmon, Tyler Humphrey and Jackson Stewart drove in two runs apiece for the Panthers.

Tyler Diderich allowed a run on two hits with five strikeouts and two walks in five innings for Washington.

In the second game, Brady Johnson and Zane Skulte combined for five innings of three-hit, shutout ball for Washington as the Panthers took the second game 10-0.

Jacob Calhoun, Wesley Stombaugh, and Luke Huffaker had the only hits for the Purple Raiders.

Carter Prina and Tyler Humphrey drove in two runs apiece to lead the Panthers' offense in the second game. Camden Augustine had three hits and Dylan McGinnis had two hits.

Washington goes to 16-6 on the year. Bloomington falls to 14-12. Albeit a thrilling game, Bloomington will look to avenge an 11-10, eight-inning defeat Friday when they host Normal Community today. 

Illinois (28-16, 13-5) walked off Ohio State (23-22, 8-10) 12-2, with a run-rule victory at Illinois Field.

Brody Harding had a huge day at the plate for the Illini, going 3-for-4 with two runs, a home run and five RBI. Drake Westcott also went yard, going 2-for-3 with three runs, a home run, RBI and a walk. Ryan Moerman delivered the walk-off hit in the eighth with a two-run double.

Jake Rons got the win out of the bullpen for the Illini. The right-hander went 2.2 innings, giving up one run on three hits, and striking out one. Regan Hall picked up his second win of the season, tossing 3.0 shutout innings without allowing a hit, walking one and punching out four.

Cal Hejza extended his on-base streak to 29 games.

The Fighting Illini wrap up their seven-game homestand with the final home games of the season in a three-game set vs. Iowa.

Illinois State secured a Sunday sweep over Southern Illinois at Duffy Bass Field by a final of 10-5.

Senior Auggie Rasmussen led the Redbirds (24-22 overall, 12-9 MVC) with three hits and five RBIs.

Back-to-back home runs for the Salukis in the 1st yielded an early 4-0 Southern Illinois lead.

The Redbirds got two runs in the bottom of the 1st on Rasmussen's 12th home run of the season to trim the margin to 4-2. Illinois State added three runs in the thired inning with a two-run bloop double for Rasmussen and a passed ball for a 5-4 lead.

The Salukis tied the score at 5-5 in the seventh with an RBI single to center field.

In the bottom of the 7th, ISU stormed ahead with five runs on four hits, including back-to-back two-RBI singles, to take a commanding 10-5 lead.

Southern Illinois (26-22 overall, 9-12 MVC) was led by three hits from Jake Allgeyer.

Illinois State will travel to Chicago next weekend for a three-game series at UIC starting Friday. 

Kyle Larson came roaring around the outside of Chris Buescher on the final lap at Kansas Speedway, banging doors with him all the way to the finish line, only to be told by his team over the radio that everything he had given was not quite enough.

It wasn’t until Larson was in Turn 3 of the cool-down lap that he saw his spotter, Tyler Monn, dancing high above the track.

In the closest finish in NASCAR history, one that only became official with a grainy black-and-white photo at the line, the No. 5 car was declared the winner by a thousandth of a second — every bit as close as the Kentucky Derby a day earlier, and an even more dramatic finish than the three-at-the-line conclusion to the Cup Series race at Atlanta earlier this season.

Not so awesome for Buescher’s team, which had begun celebrating before the result became official. His crew chief, Scott Graves, asked to meet with NASCAR officials in their hauler. Shown the finish-line photo, he accepted the outcome.

The edge-of-your-seat finish came after a caution for Kyle Busch’s spin forced the green-white-checkered finish. Larson had pulled behind Buescher on the backstretch of the last lap, then came around him in the final corner. To the naked eye, Buescher looked as if he had edged ahead, and even Larson had started to congratulate his team on a strong second-place run.

A few minutes later, he was doing a celebratory burnout on the front stretch.

It was a brilliant start to a busy month of May for Larson, who will attempt to run the Indianapolis 500 and Coca-Cola 600 on the same day Memorial Day weekend. The win was his second of the season for Hendrick Motorsports, and it gave him a bit of retribution after finishing second to Denny Hamlin last week at Dover and in the spring race at Kansas a year ago.

Martin Truex Jr. finished fourth Sunday and Hamlin, who had the lead on the final restart, faded back to fifth place.

There were no cautions other than for stage breaks until Jimmie Johnson wrecked with 91 laps to go. The seven-time champion, back in the No. 84 for the second consecutive week, was hit from behind by Corey LaJoie after he had checked up.

The yellow flags then came in quickly: Hamlin made contact with Austin Cindric, sending the No. 2 into a wreck that spun out Bubba Wallace and McDowell. Harrison Burton wrecked on the restart, then Joey Logano did on the next one.

The series heads to Darlington next for its annual throwback weekend.

Clinton used steady pitching and solid defense to take down Lincoln 4-1 in a non-conference high school baseball matchup from Lincoln High School on Friday afternoon.

Lincoln's Colby Glenn and Clinton's Brock Wilson went toe-to-toe over five innings. Glenn permitted two runs, one was earned, on two hits and with two walks and seven strikeouts across six innings.

Wilson went five innings allowing an unearned run on four hits with three walks and a strikeout. 

Preston Curtis closed out the win for the Maroons with two scoreless innings of relief. The sophomore struck out two, walked three, and allowed a hit.

Brooks Cluver paced Clinton offensively finishing 2-for-4 with two RBIs and a stolen base. Ryne Pine drove in the other Clinton run and Mason Walker collected two hits finishing 2-for-4 with a run scored. 

No Lincoln hitters recorded an RBI. Glenn was 2-for-4 with a double. Drew Hayes was 1-for-3 with a run scored and stole a base. Trey Schilling stole a base for the Railsplitters.

Lincoln had a seven-game winning streak snapped to fall to 15-8 overall. They will host Rantoul on Monday. 

Clinton goes to 18-8 overall. They will host Warrensburg-Latham on Monday.

Rantoul used a five-run fourth inning to pull ahead and then rebounded when Clinton tied the game 9-9 in the top of the fifth inning to take home an 11-9 win in non-conference high school softball action Friday in Rantoul.

Clinton led 7-0 after they hit in the top of the second inning but Rantoul scored the next nine runs to go up 9-7. Clinton answered with two runs in the fifth inning to tie the game but the Lady Eagles got a run back in the fifth and sixth innings and held on the rest of the way.

Despite a big offensive output, Clinton did not record an extra-base hit. Heidi Humble was 2-for-5 with two RBIs, two stolen bases, and two runs scored. Avery Smith was 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored. Ashley Armstrong finished 2-for-4 with a run batted in and Hadley Humble drove in a run and stole two bases for the Lady Maroons.

Analise Thompson and Ariana Humes also had RBIs.

Clinton drops to 9-13 overall. They will host Champaign Centennial on Monday.

Monticello used a balanced offensive attack to take down Mahomet-Seymour 6-4 in non-conference high school baseball action from Monticello Friday afternoon.

Ike Young struck out five in six innings of two-run ball. One run was earned. The junior walked one and permitted five hits. Brody Beilledo tossed a scoreless inning of relief to finish off the win.

Young was 1-for-2 with an RBI, a stolen base, and drew a walk. 

Luke Teschke finished 2-for-4 for the only multi-hit effort on the day for the Sages. Matt Swartz doubled in a run while Eli Craft and Raiden Colbert also had RBIs. 

Colton Vance reached base three times on three free passes.

Cam Heinhold had the only RBI for Mahomet-Seymour.

Monticello is 27-2 overall. They will embark on the final week of the regular season by traveling to St. Joseph-Ogden in a makeup game of last week's rainout in Illini Prairie Conference play.

Maroa-Forsyth made quick work of Decatur St. Teresa, rolling to a 17-0 five-inning, run-rule win Friday in Decatur. 

Tate Brandenburg went yard and drove in four runs to pace Maroa-Forsyth's offense. The senior was 2-for-5 with four RBIs and a run scored. Connor Kelly was 2-for-4 with a double, two RBIs, and two runs scored for the Trojans. 

Ace Giles finished 1-for-3 with three RBIs. Kaiden Maurer was 2-for-2 with two RBIs and a run scored.

Rose finished four shutout innings on the mound allowing two hits and struck out six. Maurer struck out two in a perfect inning of relief.

Maroa-Forsyth is 19-4 overall. They will travel to Clinton on Tuesday.