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Sports Editor Matt Daniels with a look at what’s going on around the area:
Bismarck-Henning graduate Dylan Dodd is back up in the big leagues and pitching well out of the bullpen for the Atlanta Braves.
Three reasons we love sports today
➜ 1. Bismarck-Henning graduate Dylan Dodd is back up with the Atlanta Braves, and the 27-year-old reliever has impressed in his first two outings since recovering from a back injury last month.
➜ 2. Dodd threw three shutout innings of relief in Saturday’s 2-0 loss against the Washington Nationals, striking out three and only allowing one hit. In four appearances this season, Dodd has a 1.13 ERA in eight innings before Tuesday’s series opener against the Red Sox at Fenway Park.
➜ 3. Congrats to the St. Joseph Middle School eighth-grade girls’ track and field team. The Panthers won an IESA Class 3A state title on Saturday in East Peoria, one of several notable feats from area track and field athletes at the IESA state meet.
Champaign Central graduate Jake Munroe — here in 2021 — is thriving in his first full season of pro baseball with the Los Angeles Angels organization.
Numbers game: 9
home runs hit by Champaign Central graduate Jake Munroe in his first 37 games with the Tri-City Dust Devils, the high-Class A affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels. The 22-year-old Munroe is also hitting .268 with a .420 on-base percentage and a .569 slugging percentage before the Dust Devils, based in Pasco, Wash., host the Spokane Indians on Tuesday night. His nine home runs is tied for second in the Northwest League.
Addison Finet and the Monticello girls’ soccer team will try to keep its season intact when the Sages play at Rock Island Alleman on Tuesday night in a Class 1A sectional semifinal match.
Crowd control
Three events I’m paying attention to
➜ 1. Champaign Central vs. Normal U-High softball. Central (29-4-1) and U-High (23-12) are set to meet at 4 p.m. on Wednesday in a Class 3A Lincoln Sectional semifinal game.
➜ 2. Monticello at Rock Island Alleman girls’ soccer. The Sages (16-7-2) will make the 180-mile trip to Rock Island on Tuesday for a Class 1A sectional semifinal showdown against the host Pioneers (11-8), with the match starting at 7 p.m.
➜ 3. Salt Fork at LeRoy softball. At least one area team will advance to the Sweet 16 in Class 1A when this sectional semifinal game against the host Panthers (36-1) and Storm (18-11) gets underway at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday.
Urbana junior Abby Coppess is a two-sport athlete for the Tigers.
Ask an athlete
Three questions with Urbana junior Abby Coppess, who competes in swimming and soccer for the Tigers:
➜ 1. Three athletes I’d like to have dinner with are … Trinity Rodman, Mallory Swanson and Marley Yau.
➜ 2. The TV show I most like to binge-watch is … “Gilmore Girls.”
➜ 3. My biggest pet peeve is … running or playing sports with my hair down.
