Local News

Baseball and Softball Wrap | Benet tops Richards in extras to punch ticket to state
By Jeff Vorva Staff Writer Richards came close to setting up an all-South Suburban Conference matchup in the IHSA Class 3A state semifinals. But the Bulldogs could not take advantage of an early two-run lead and dropped a 5-2 decision in eight innings to Benet at the Benedictine Supersectional, played June 5 in Lisle. Had…

Baseball | Randall Nauden walk-off lifts Brother Rice over Lincoln-Way East
By Steve Millar Correspondent With a trip to state hanging in the balance, Lincoln-Way East chose to intentionally walk Brother Rice’s Amir Gray and take their chances with junior catcher Randall Nauden. Nauden responded by ripping a walk-off single down the right-field line with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning to send…

Baseball | St. Laurence gets 30th win, but falls to Nazareth in sectional final
By Steve Millar Correspondent St. Laurence got a big boost early from a reliable source in its sectional semifinal against Oak Forest. Senior outfielder Luke Stulga ripped his eighth home run of the season, a two-run shot that sailed over the left-field wall in the first inning. The Vikings never looked back from there, cruising…

Softball | Marist returns to state with 3-0 win over Lockport
By Randy Whalen Correspondent Isabel Cunnea has ties to Lockport. Her mom, Jeanine Ondrus Cunnea, is a 1988 Porters graduate. After homering against her mom’s alma mater in the IHSA Class 4A Marist Sepersectional, Cunnea also has ties to the RedHawks record book. Cunnea creamed her 22nd home run of the season, one of a…

Girls Soccer State Finals | De La Salle takes fourth in fist state finals appearance
By Steve Millar Correspondent Taking the field at the state finals for the first time in program history, De La Salle junior midfielder Imani Coleman did her best to soak in the feeling. “It was a big moment,” Coleman said of that moment on June 2. “We didn’t really know what it was going to…

Area Sports Roundup | Lyons boys volleyball takes second; D230 United finishes fourth in girls lacrosse
By Jeff Vorva Staff Writer There is no argument which conference is Illinois’ most dominant when it comes to boys volleyball. The West Suburban Conference took the top three spots in the IHSA state tournament in Hoffman Estates, with Lyons smack dab in the middle with a second-place finish. Glenbard West won it all with…

Pro Sports Report | Louisville blanks Red Stars
By Jeff Vorva Staff Writer It worked once. But not a second time. The tightrope can only stretch so far. The offensively struggling Chicago Red Stars may have been able to buck the odds when they were severely outshot in an NWSL game win over Orlando on May 27, but that approach was not fruitful…

College Notebook | Worth’s Walinski finishes strong for Huskies
By Mike Walsh Correspondent Kelly Walinski concluded her college years in perfect fashion. On the softball diamond, the Northern Illinois senior shortstop was named to the 2023 All-Mid-American Conference First Team. In the classroom, she was chosen to the Academic All-MAC Team for the third time in her stint in DeKalb. The Worth resident and…

Area Sports Roundup | State volleyball and lacrosse tournaments will have local flavor
By Jeff Vorva Staff writer When it comes to the postseason, there are rarely guarantees. There are, however, two guarantees this season when it comes to having teams in the IHSA state finals this weekend. Boys volleyball and girls lacrosse will each have an area representative at their respective state tournaments. In volleyball, Marist and…

Pro Sports Report | Orlando outshoots Chicago 19-2, loses 1-0
By Jeff Vorva Staff Writer Orlando outshot the Chicago Red Stars 19-2, including a 6-2 disadvantage with shots on goal, during a May 27 visit to SeatGeek Stadium. That would normally be a recipe for disaster for the home team. But the Stars defense and goalie Alyssa Naeher withstood the barrage, and the team took…

Girls Soccer | McAuley starts playoffs with rout, but falls to LW East in regional title game
By Steve Millar Correspondent Hosting a playoff game on its new turf field for the first time, Mother McAuley made it a memorable occasion. Four players scored two goals each and the eighth-seeded Mighty Macs rolled to an 8-1 win over 10th-seeded T.F. United in a Class 4A Mother McAuley Regional semifinal on May 17.…

Baseball and Softball Wrap | Trinity softball finishes national runner-up
By Jeff Vorva Staff Writer The Trinity Christian softball team finished second in the nation in the National Christian College Athletic Association World Series. The Trolls lost to Concordia (Michigan), 8-1, in the title game May 18 at the Urban Youth Academy in Kansas City. They finished 25-20 and won the second most games in…

Postseason Roundup | McAuley water polo takes second in state
By Jeff Vorva Staff Writer The Mother McAuley water polo team won a squeaker and a blowout at the IHSA state tournament before falling in the championship game. It was McAuley’s (21-6-1) highest finish at state since a second-place showing in 2008. The Mighty Macs nipped Naperville North, 7-6, on May 18 in the quarterfinals…
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State report: Catholic churches harbored hundreds more abusers than previously disclosed
By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois [email protected] SPRINGFIELD – Catholic dioceses in Illinois failed to disclose hundreds of abusive clerics before the state opened what would become a yearslong investigation into sex abuse within the church, Attorney General Kwame Raoul announced Tuesday. Included in a scathing 700-page report published by Raoul’s office at the end…

UPDATED: Environmental bills seek to improve soil health, ban state use of polystyrene foam containers
By ANDREW ADAMS & NIKA SCHOONOVER Capitol News Illinois [email protected] [email protected] Editor’s note: This story will be updated as the measures make their way through the legislature this week. SPRINGFIELD – Several pieces of environmental legislation are making their way through the Illinois General Assembly on what was scheduled to be the final week of…

UPDATED: Environmental bills seek to improve soil health, ban state use of polystyrene foam containers
By ANDREW ADAMS & NIKA SCHOONOVER Capitol News Illinois [email protected] [email protected] Editor’s note: This story will be updated as the measures make their way through the legislature this week. SPRINGFIELD – Several pieces of environmental legislation are making their way through the Illinois General Assembly on what was scheduled to be the final week of…

Dems move to allow punitive damage awards in wrongful death lawsuits
By HANNAH MEISEL Capitol News Illinois [email protected] SPRINGFIELD – Democrats in the General Assembly this week pushed through a measure that would allow state courts to award punitive damages in wrongful death lawsuits – a departure from the status quo for more than a century in Illinois. Illinois is one of 16 states that does…

As leaders extend session with budget unfinished, several sweeping last-minute bills surface
By HANNAH MEISEL, JERRY NOWICKI, NIKA SCHOONOVER & PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois [email protected] SPRINGFIELD – Lawmakers won’t finish their spring legislative session by Friday’s scheduled adjournment as negotiations over the state budget remain in flux. The May 19 end to the General Assembly’s spring session had been on the calendar for months, but it’s…

UPDATED: Optional all-gender bathrooms bill will head to governor
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois [email protected] SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois General Assembly has passed a bill that would allow businesses and public institutions to provide multi-occupant all-gender bathrooms if they choose to do so. House Bill 1286 would change current state law, under which single-occupancy bathrooms are automatically designated for all genders, but multi-occupancy…

UPDATED: Optional all-gender bathrooms bill moves closer to passage
By PETER HANCOCK Capitol News Illinois [email protected] SPRINGFIELD – The Illinois General Assembly has passed a bill that would allow businesses and public institutions to provide multi-occupant all-gender bathrooms if they choose to do so. House Bill 1286 would change current state law, under which single-occupancy bathrooms are automatically designated for all genders, but multi-occupancy…