Clinton and Warrensburg-Latham moved up Friday's scheduled Central Illinois Conference softball matchup to Thursday with rain in the forecast for Friday and it was the Lady Cardinals that rolled to an easy 14-3, five-inning, run-rule victory.

The Lady Cardinals started fast with a six-run first inning then answered with a five-run second inning. 

Emelia Coble hit a home run, doubled, and drove in three to lead Warrrensburg-Latham. Madison Bell-Walters was 2-for-3 with three RBIs and Shelby Oakley doubled and drove in a run finishing 2-for-4 for the Lady Cardinals.

Heidi Humble hit a solo home run and scored twice for the Lady Maroons. Brooke Reeves was 1-for-3 with a double. Avery Smith and Ariana Humes had RBIs for Clinton.

Clinton drops to 8-10 overall and 2-5 in the CIC. They will host GCMS on Saturday morning.

Monticello rebounded from two straight losses and took advantage of BCC miscues to roll to an 11-3 win in Illini Prairie Conference high school baseball action Thursday in Bloomington.

Sages hitters drew nine walks and scored 11 runs on ten hits in a rebound performance from dropping back-to-back games after a 22-game win streak to start the season.

Carter Foran and Colton Vance drove in two runs apiece. Ike Young was 2-for-2 with a double, RBI, and two walks. Luke Teschke walked three times and was 1-for-1 with a double, and RBI and scored twice. 

Jacob Long and Dylan Brown drove in runs for the Sages.

Koyie Williams allowed three runs in six innings to pick up the win for Monticello. The sophomore struck out five, allowed nine hits, and walked one. 

Monticello goes to 23-2 overall and 6-1 in the Illini Prairie Conference. They are scheduled to host Warrensburg-Latham on Saturday.

Luke Martin's two-run home run in the top of the ninth inning lifted Mt. Pulaski over Springfield High 3-1 in nine innings Thursday in non-conference high school baseball action from Robin Roberts Stadium in Springfield.

Chance Payne's second double of the day set up Martin's heroics in a high school baseball classic. 

Eric Cooper hit a game-tying RBI double in the fourth inning for the Hilltoppers. 

Payne struck out 11 in 6 1/3 innings of one-run ball for Mt. Pulaski. The run was unearned and he allowed two hits and three walks. Martin got the win with 2 2/3 innings of hitless, scoreless relief. Martin walked three and struck out four. 

Payne doubled twice finishing 2-for-4 for Mt. Pulaski.

The Hilltoppers are 18-1 overall. Mt. Pulaski is scheduled to travel to take on Bloomington Cornerstone Christian Academy this afternoon.

A four-run seventh inning helped Auburn take down Maroa-Forsyth 7-4 in Sangamo Conference high school baseball action Thursday in Forsyth.

The big inning was highlighted by a two-run double from Jed Ferguson to break a 3-3 tie. 

Maroa-Forsyth got a run back in its half of the seventh but the Trojans' rally fell short.

Ace Giles doubled in a run for Maroa-Forsyth in the first inning. Andy Munjoy drove in a run as well. Tate Brandenburg finished 1-for-4.

Maroa-Forsyth falls to 16-3 overall and 5-2  in the Sangamo Conference. They are scheduled to host St. Joseph-Ogden this afternoon.

Normal Community scored eight runs in the second inning and made quick work of Urbana 14-1 in a five-inning, run-rule win from Normal Thursday in Big 12 hig school baseball action.

The two squads were set to play on Friday but with rain in the forecast, the game was moved up to Thursday. 

Kaileb Hackman went yard and drove in four runs to lead the Ironmen. Kyle Beaty drove in a run and stole three bases. Riley Hendren tripled and drove in a run while Ryan Theile, Ethan Eberle, and Luke Drengwitz had RBIs for Normal.

Luke Klunke allowed a run in three innings for the Ironmen. He struck out five, walked two and permitted two hits. Luke Railey struck out five and walked one in two innings of hitless, scoreless relief.

Normal Community goes to 21-2 overall and 11-0 in the Big 12. They travel to take on Plainfield North on Saturday.

Taylor Hafermann struck out ten in five innings of two-run ball helping Normal West get by Danville 5-2 in Big 12 high school baseball action Thursday in Danville.

The game was moved up to Thursday with rain in the forecast for Friday afternoon. The Wildcats rolls the Vikings 16-1 on Wednesday. 

Grady DeVors took the loss for Danville going the distance and allowing five runs, four were earned with three strikeouts to three walks and permitted seven hits. 

Brady Hart was 2-for-3 with two RBIs, a stolen base, and a run scored. Hafermann was 2-for-2 with an RBI while Chase Knuth was 1-for-3 with an RBI and run scored.

Ryder Coone picked up the win for the Wildcats with two innings of hitless, scoreless relief. The senior struck out five and walked four.

Normal West is 13-9 overall and goes to 8-4 in the Big 12. They will host Hononegah on Saturday.

The Clinton Maroons split a Wednesday evening doubleheader with Tuscola in Central Illinois Conference high school baseball - one game being a regularly scheduled matchup and the other a make-up of a rainout from earlier in the spring.

The Maroons won the first game 4-2 behind a bullpen day for Clinton. Brooks Cluver, Cole Fentress, and Preston Curtis combined to no-hit the Warriors. 

Fentress allowed two unearned runs and walked four in 2 2/3 innings. Curtis struck out five to close out the win in four perfect innings of work.

Mason Walker was 2-for-3 with an RBI, stole two bases and scored a run. Colton Walker and Aiden Toohill added RBIs. 

In the second game, the Warriors used a six-run fourth inning to get by Clinton 9-6. 

Colton Walker was 2-for-3 with two RBIs and a stolen base. Jaxon Reynolds had the only other RBI for Clinton.

Trailing 4-3, Tuscola broke the game open with the six-run inning highlighted by a two-run single by Caiden Russo. 

With the split Wednesday, Clinton is 15-7 overall and 6-2 in the Central Illinois Conference. They will host Warrensburg-Latham on Friday afternoon. Hear the action on WHOW and all its digital platforms.

Brooke Reeves and Heidi Humble each drove in two runs pacing Clinton over Tuscola 7-3 in Central Illinois Conference high school softball action from Tuscola Wednesday.

Reeves finished 3-for-5 with a double, two stolen bases, and two runs scored in addition to her two RBIs. Humble finished 2-for-3 with a triple and her two RBIs.

Avery Smith, Aliviyah Haynes, and Sara Mills also drove in runs for the Lady Maroons. 

Ashley Armstrong went seven innings in circle Wednesday. The senior allowed three runs, one was earned, on six hits while issuing a walk and struck out eight.

Clinton is 9-9 overall and 3-4 in the Central Illinois Conference. They host Warrensburg-Latham this afternoon. 

Jason Decker went the distance pacing Tri-Valley over Monticello 2-1 in a walk-off non-conference high school baseball win Wednesday from Downs.

Decker allowed a run on three hits and struck out five while walking two. 

Matt Swartz drew two walks hitting out of the lead-off spot for the Sages. The junior stole two bags and scored two runs. Jacob Long drove in the lone run for Monticello. 

Eli Craft and Colton Vance had hits for the Sages.

Carter Foran went 6 2/3 innings. The junior allowed two runs, one was earned, on six hits. He struck out six and walked zero hitters. 

After a 22-game win streak to start the year, the Sages have dropped its last two to go to 22-2. They will travel to Bloomington to take on Central Catholic High School today.

Mt. Pulaski easily handled Central A&M 17-3 in a five-inning, run-rule win Wednesday in non-conference high school baseball action in Mt. Pulaski.

Chance Payne doubled twice and drove in three runs while scoring four times for the Hilltoppers. Luke Martin tripled in a 3-for-4 effort and drove in two and scored twice. 

Aaron Volle drove in two runs and got the victory on the bump for Mt. Pulaski. The freshman struck out eight while permitting three unearned runs.

Franklin Wade had two RBIs awhile Landon Smith and Tyler Cross hit doubled for the Hilltoppers. 

Mt. Pulaski is 17-1 overall. They will travel to Springfield this afternoon to take on Springfield High.

Maroa-Forsyth scored three runs in the top of the tenth inning and outlasted Olympia 4-1 in Sangamo Conference high school baseball action in Stanford Wednesday.

An Ace Giles two-run single broke the 1-1 tie and Cayden Rose drove in another run.

Connor Kelly went five innings of one-run ball. He struck out seven, walked three and allowed a hit. Kaiden Maurer went five innings of relief for the win. The senior struck out seven and allowed just one hit. 

Tate Brandenburg finished 3-for-5 with a double for the Trojans. Mitch Williams was 2-for-5 with a double while Rose finished 2-for-5 with a double and two runs batted in. 

Maurer added two hits as well for Maroa-Forsyth.

The Trojans are 16-2 overall and 5-1 in the Sangamo Conference. They host Auburn this afternoon.

Normal West easily dispatched Danville 16-1 in Big 12 high school baseball action Wednesday in Normal.

Sam DesCarpentrie paced the Wildcats offense finishing 3-for-5 with a double, a stolen base, and five RBIs. 

Alex Olson was 1-for-3 with a double, a stolen base, and scored three runs. Jaxson Crancer was 2-for-3 with a double, an RBI, a stolen base, and scored a run. Blake Crancer scored three runs and stole four bases Wednesday.

Sean Jenkins drove in two runs while Chase Knuth, Brady Hart and Ryder Coone drove in runs as well. Hart had two stolen bases for the Wildcats.

Normal West is 12-9 overall and 7-4 in the Big 12. They travel to Danville on Friday.

Anthony Gura hit a home run and drove in three to pace Normal Community past Urbana 19-0 in Big 12 high school baseball action from Urbana Wednesday.

Kaileb Hackman and Luke Drengwitz doubled and drove two while Riley Hendren and Ryan Theile each doubled and drove in runs. 

Dexter Niekamp triped. Hendren also added a triple for the Ironmen. Kyle Beaty stole two bases and Owen Cavanaugh and Hackman also stole bases in the win.

Normal is 20-2 overall and moves to 10-0 in the Big 12. The Ironmen will host Urbana on Friday.

An Illinois High School Association board member says the organization is seeing a growing number of eligibility appeals. Katy Hasson was speaking on the issue in response to Illinois House Bill 334, which would limit transfer eligibility governance by the IHSA.

Illinois House Bill 334 has passed out of committee but has not been called for a vote on the house floor. Hasson has served on the IHSA board for eight years and has one year remaining on her final term.

In a game heard on WHOW, Willi Castro hit a 3-run home run on his 27th birthday and Joe Ryan pitched six innings for his first win of the year as the Minnesota Twins beat the Chicago White Sox 6-3 Wednesday.

Castro’s homer capped a four-run second inning against Chicago left-hander Garrett Crochet. It was his second career home run on his birthday and it drove in Austin Martin and Christian Vásquez.

Crochet (1-4) surrendered five runs on seven hits in four innings. He’s lost his last three outings.

Chicago right-hander Michael Soroka (0-3, 7.50 ERA) is looking for his first win of the year after allowing five runs in each of his last two starts. The Twins announced after Wednesday's game that Simeon Woods Richardson (1-0, 1.69) will be recalled from Triple-A St. Paul to start Thursday's series finale. Bailey Ober's start will be pushed back to Friday in Anaheim.

Lars Nootbaar drove in two runs and Kyle Gibson pitched six effective innings, lifting the St. Louis Cardinals to a 5-1 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks in the finale of three-game series on Wednesday.

It was the first win in a series finale this season for the Cardinals, who bounced back from a 14-1 loss Tuesday night.

In his 299th start, Gibson (2-2) allowed one run and five hits. Gibson struck out six and walked two. It was his fifth straight start of six innings or more.

Three relievers finished up for St. Louis.

Former Cardinal Jordan Montgomery (1-1) went seven innings in his second start for Arizona since signing a one-year, $25 million deal as this season began. He allowed three runs, two earned, and six hits and struck out four and walked one in his first career start against St. Louis.

Arenado has reached base safely in 23 consecutive games since March 30, tying the injured Christian Yelich for the longest active on-base streak this season.

The Cardinals optioned outfielder Jordan Walker and left-hander Zack Thompson to Triple-A Memphis. Recalled infielder José Fermín and left-hander John King from Triple-A Memphis. The 6-foot-6 Walker is hitting just .155 with no home runs and 4 RBIs. He hit .276 with 16 homers and 51 RBIs as a rookie last season.

The Cardinals are off Thursday. Will start Miles Mikolas (1-3, 6.49) on Friday in New York against the Mets. 

Dansby Swanson hit a three-run homer during Chicago's four-run first inning and the short-handed Cubs beat the Houston Astros 4-3 on Wednesday night.

Playing without Cody Bellinger, Chicago used Swanson's big swing and a solid start by Jameson Taillon to earn its second straight win. It will try to sweep the three-game set against the struggling Astros on Thursday.

Taillon (2-0) allowed two runs, one earned, and seven hits in 5 2/3 innings on a chilly evening at Wrigley Field. The right-hander struck out four and walked two in his second start since he began the season on the injured list with a back strain.

Houston lost for the seventh time in eight games. It has scored a total of 21 runs during the slide.

Houston right-hander Justin Verlander (1-0, 3.00 ERA) makes his second start since he missed the beginning of the season because of shoulder inflammation. Right-hander Javier Assad (2-0, 2.11 ERA) takes the mound for Chicago.

The Chicago Bears rolled out a formal proposal for a new domed stadium on the lakefront in Chicago.

The team says they will contribute $2 billion to build a new stadium that will cost $3.2 billion and it could take $1.5 billion more in infrastructure spending around the stadium site.

To make the difference between what the Bears say they will spend vs the total cost, a current hotel tax needs to be rebonded and extended and new state dollars are being asked for to address other infrastructure spending.

Bears President Kevin Warren says this project needs those dollars to be committed to this spring by state lawmakers – even though the reception from Governor JB Pritzker and legislative leaders has been cool.

Warren admitted that they hadn’t been in direct formal talks with the state over the funding streams.

Regional Radio this week got the chance to chat with White Sox SS Paul DeJong - here's the full version of our conversation with him...

In a game heard on WHOW, Alex Kirilloff hit a two-out, game-ending single after Byron Buxton led off the ninth inning with a tying homer, and the major league-worst Chicago White Sox fell to 3-20 with a 6-5 loss to the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday night.

Chicago joined Cincinnati in 2022, Detroit in 2003, the St. Louis Browns in 1936 and the Cleveland Spiders in 1899 as teams to start 3-20. The 1988 Baltimore Orioles began 1-22.

Eloy Jiménez hit a three-run homer and starter Erick Fedde struck out a career-high 11 batters for the White Sox. 

Fedde allowed one run on three hits - all in the first inning - in his best performance since signing with Chicago during the offseason. The right-hander spent 2023 pitching in South Korea.

After his rocky first inning, Fedde retired the next 13 batters in order. That included two strikeouts each in the second, third, fourth and fifth innings.

Chicago LHP Garrett Crochet (1-3, 5.61 ERA) is scheduled to face RHP Joe Ryan (0-1, 3.57) Wednesday night in the third game of the four-game series.

Mike Tauchman hit his first two homers of the season, and the Chicago Cubs took a five-run first-inning lead in a 7-2 win over Houston on Tuesday night that dropped the Astros 10 games under .500 for the first time since 2016.

Cody Bellinger hit a two-run homer in the first off J.P. France (0-3) and Tauchman hit a three-run drive. Tauchman added a solo homer in the eighth against Seth Martinez and tied his career high of four RBIs.

Jordan Wicks (1-2) allowed two runs and five hits in a season-high six innings with no walks and four strikeouts. Chicago has won seven of 10.

The Cubs placed RHP Kyle Hendricks (low back strain) and LHP Drew Smyly (right hip impingement) on the 15-day injured list and designated INF Garrett Cooper for assignment. Chicago recalled RHP Hayden Wesneski, LHP Luke Little and INF Matt Mervis from Triple-A Iowa. 

Houston’s Spencer Arrighetti (0-2, 7.08 ERA) faces fellow RHP Jameson Taillon (1-0, 1.80) on Wednesday, Taillon’s second start this season after recovering from a strained back.

Pavin Smith hit a grand slam and drove in a career-high six runs to help the Arizona Diamondbacks to a 14-1 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday night.

Christian Walker and Kevin Newman also homered for Arizona, which leads the majors with 148 runs.

Tommy Henry (1-1) tossed six effective innings in his first win in five starts this season. The 26-year-old left-hander gave up one run on five hits and struck out six with one walk.

Willson Contreras homered for St. Louis, which has lost five of six.

Contreras left the game in the fifth inning with a sore hand. He is listed as day-to-day.

Arizona LHP Jordan Montgomery (1-0, 1-50) faces RHP Kyle Gibson (1-2, 5.04) in the finale of the three-game series on Wednesday. 

Ryne Pine drove in four runs to pace a balanced Clinton offense that pulled away from Meridian for an 11-1 win in Central Illinois Conference high school baseball action from Clinton Monday.

Pine finished 2-for-2 with a triple and four RBIs. Brock Wilson went 1-for-3 with two RBIs, a run scored and walked at the top of the Maroons order.

The Maroons jumped out to a 3-0 lead after two innings and extended its lead to 8-0 before a three-run sixth inning put the game away on a run-rule walk-off. 

Brooks Cluver was 3-for-4 with a run scored. Colton Walker finished 2-for-4 with an RBI and scored twice.

Monday's win was much needed for Clinton who had dropped its last three. 

Mason Walker scored twice finishing 1-for-3 with a walk. 

Clinton goes to 14-6 overall and 5-1 in the CIC. The Maroons are tied atop the CIC with Shelbyville.

In a game heard on WEZC, Indiana commit Henry Brummel had a crowd of big league scouts in Monticello Monday and the Pontiac senior did not disappoint as he carried the Indians to an 8-1 win in Illini Prairie Conference high school baseball.

Brummel struck out 15 across 6 2/3 innings of one-run ball. The one run he allowed was unearned. He worked both sides of the plate effectively with a dominant fastball and a sweeping breaking ball that was unhittable. 

Brummel also finished 4-for-4 at the plate with a double and four RBIs.

Cayden Masching and Henry DeYoung also added run-scoring doubles for Pontiac - who has struggled offensively at times this spring. 

The Indians are without Valpraiso-commit Michael Kuska who is out with an injury this spring. 

Dylan Brown recorded the only extra base hit for the Sages, finishing 1-for-3. Jacob Long was 1-for-3 for Monticello.

Brown's barreled double off the left field fence in the seventh inning earned him the ServPro of Piatt/DeWitt Counties Player of the Game for Monticello.

Pontiac goes to 6-11 overall and 4-2 in the Illini Prairie Conference.

Monticello drops to 22-1 and 5-1 in the Illini Prairie. Monticello travels to Downs to take on Tri-Valley on Wednesday.

Meridian's Ashley Schelling was too much for Clinton as Meridian no-hit Clinton -0 in Central Illinois Conference high school softball from Clinton Monday.

Schelling struck out 15 across seven scoreless, hitless innings for the Rams. She issued just two walks in the no-hit effort. 

Only Brooke Reeves and Heidi Humble reached base on the free pas for the Lady Maroons.

Clinton goes to 8-9 overall and 2-4 in the CIC.