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.

A rally for Monticello in the bottom of the seventh inning fell short as Pontiac held off the Lady Sages 4-3 in Illini Prairie Conference high school softball action from Monticello Monday.

Marrissa Miller cleared the bases with a three-run triple in the seventh inning but Monticello could not bring her in as the tying run in the seventh inning. 

Avery Schweitzer, Lynsee Trybom, and Lucy Leatherwood recorded base hits for the Lady Sages.

Cassidee Stoeffel allowed four runs, three were earned, in a complete game effort in circle for Monticello. The sophomore struck out four, walked three, and permitted seven hits.

The Lady Sages drop to 13-10 overall and 2-3 in the Illini Prairie Conference. They are at Urbana this afternoon.

A fast start helped Blue Ridge blank Cerro Gordo-Bement 9-0 in Lincoln Prairie Conference softball action Monday in Farmer City.

The Lady Knights jumped out to a 5-0 lead and added four more runs in the fourth.

Lily Enger paced the Blue Ridge offense finishing 1-for-2 with three RBIs and scored twice. Cassie Zimmerman was 1-for-3 with a double, two RBIs and two runs scored. 

Ellie Schlieper was 2-for-3 with a double and two RBIs. She also went seven shutout innings in circle for the Lady Knights. Schlieper permitted a hit and issued three walks while striking out nine.

Ellie Hayward added a double for Blue Ridge and Carsyn Stiger drove in a run.

The Lady Knights improved to 7-11 overall and picked up its first Lincoln Prairie win, moving to 1-4. They host Tri-County Wednesday in more Lincoln Prairie Conference play.

Landon Smith homered and Chance Payne had a huge day at the plate leading Mt. Pulaski to an easy 19-1 win over Springfield Lutheran in non-conference baseball action from Springfield Monday. 

Smith was 2-for-3 with a homer, a double, and drove in three runs while scoring three runs. Payne was 4-for-4 with a double and three RBIs while scoring three runs for the Hilltoppers. 

Eric Cooper drove in three finishing 1-for-2 and scored three runs. 

Luke Martin added a double and RBI while Colt Selinger, Franklin Wade, Carter Clark, and Tucker Fitzpatrick all drove in runs for Mt. Pulaski. Preston Cowan had two RBIs.

Cooper struck out seven in three innings of one-run ball for the Hilltoppers. Aaron Volle struck out three in a scoreless inning of relief.

Mt. Pulaski is 16-1 overall. They have a tough matchup with Routt Catholic this afternoon.

Normal Community scored ten runs in the first inning and easily took down Peoria Richwoods 17-0 in four innings Monday from Peoria.

Kaileb Hackman was 3-for-3 with a double, four RBIs and three runs scored. Dexter Niekamp went deep for the Ironmen. Luke Drengwitz tripled and drove in two. 

Drew Stevens hit a double. Anthony Gura tripled, had an RBI and scored twice for Normal. Ryan Theile had an RBI as well for the Ironmen. 

Ethan Eberly breezed through four scoreless innings. The Louisville-commit struck out ten, walked two and allowed a hit. 

Normal is 19-2 overall and 9-0 in the Big 12. They travel to Urbana today before hosting Urbana on Thursday in more Big 12 action. 

In a game heard on WHOW, Max Kepler had two hits and three RBIs in his return from the injured list and the Minnesota Twins beat the Chicago White Sox 7-0 on Monday night.

Chris Paddack struck out 10 in seven innings to win as a starter for the first time in nearly two years. Edouard Julien homered among his three hits for Minnesota.

Blanked for the eighth time this season and once in each series, Chicago has lost 10 of 11. The White Sox fell to 3-19, the worst record in the majors.

Nicky Lopez and Danny Mendick each had two hits, and Gavin Sheets and manager Pedro Grifol were ejected for arguing balls and strikes in the eighth inning.

Making his second career start, Chicago’s Jonathan Cannon (0-1) allowed nine hits and six earned runs in 3 2-3 innings. He held Kansas City to one run on three hits over five innings April 17.

Three straight one-out singles in the fourth amounted to no runs for Chicago, which has scored an MLB-worst 45 runs this year. Twins first baseman Alex Kirilloff snared a 104.7 mph liner from Andrew Vaughn and Paul DeJong struck out on three pitches.

Tuesday’s second game of the four-game set has Chicago’s RHP Erick Fedde (1-0, 3.10) and Minnesota’s Pablo López (1-2, 3.97) as the scheduled starters.

Nolan Gorman snapped an 0-for-19 slump with a two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning that gave the St. Louis Cardinals a 5-3 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday night.

It was the fourth home run this season for Gorman, who entered as a defensive replacement in the eighth. Paul Goldschmidt, who homered earlier, reached on an infield single before Gorman hit left-hander Kyle Nelson's only pitch into the right-field seats for his first career walk-off RBIs.

Ryan Helsley (2-2) worked a scoreless inning and the Cardinals overcame a 3-0 deficit to halt a four-game losing streak. Lars Nootbaar began the comeback with a two-run single in the sixth.

Eugenio Suárez sparked Arizona with three hits and two RBIs. Ryan Thompson (0-1) took the loss.

Brandon Pfaadt pitched 5 1/3 innings, giving up two runs on two hits and three walks. He retired his first 12 batters before giving up a leadoff single to Nolan Arenado in the fifth.

Lance Lynn lasted five innings for the Cardinals, throwing 94 pitches. He allowed seven hits and three runs, stranding eight baserunners.

Goldschmidt tied it 3-all with a leadoff homer to right-center in the seventh - his first since the season opener. Those are his only two extra-base hits this year. It was the Cardinals' first home run since April 12.

Arizona scored twice off Lynn in the second on an RBI single by Suárez and Ketel Marte's bases-loaded sacrifice fly.

Suárez made it 3-0 in the fifth with a run-scoring double.

St. Louis chased Pfaadt in the sixth. He walked three batters before getting a shallow flyout, but Nootbaar hit a two-run single. Those runs snapped a string of 14 innings without scoring for the Cardinals. Scott McGough entered and got Arenado to bounce into an inning-ending double play.

Steven Matz (1-1, 3.60 ERA) makes his second start against the Diamondbacks in 11 days. Arizona had not announced a starting pitcher for Tuesday night.