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Sports Editor Matt Daniels with a look at what’s going on around the area:
The LeRoy Junior High softball team is all smiles after the Panthers won an IESA Class 1A state championship on Saturday in Normal.
Three reasons we love sports today
➜ 1. Many thanks to Illinois volleyball coach Chris Tamas — along with Champaign Central volleyball coach Justin Tomaska and his Maroons’ team — for joining ‘The News-Gazette Sports Page’ radio show that aired on WDWS 1400-AM and 93.9-FM on Monday evening from the Esquire in downtown Champaign.
➜ 2. Congrats to the LeRoy Junior High softball team. The Panthers won an IESA Class 1A state championship on Saturday, defeating Carthage 8-5 in the title game in Normal. Sierra Long threw a complete game and drove in four runs to lead LeRoy.
➜ 3. The St. Joseph Middle School softball team finished third at the 2A state tournament, while the Blue Ridge Junior High softball team placed fourth in the 1A.
Bismarck-Henning graduate and Atlanta Braves reliever Dylan Dodd got his second save of the season in closing out Sunday’s NL East Division title clinching victory against the Astros.
Numbers game: 13
pitches Bismarck-Henning graduate Dylan Dodd needed to strike out the side and earn his second save of the season for the Atlanta Braves during their 4-2 road win against the Houston Astros on Sunday. A win that clinched the NL East Division title for the Braves, the franchise’s first since 2023. Dodd is now 4-1 with a 2.31 earned run average, 50 strikeouts and 14 walks in 46 2/3 innings this season for the Braves.
Fifth-year senior quarterback Katin Houser and the rest of the Illini will play on the road for the first time this season on Saturday at No. 7 Ohio State.
Crowd control
Three events I’m paying attention to
➜ 1. Illinois at No. 7 Ohio State football. Julian Sayin and the Buckeyes (2-1) enter the 11 a.m. Saturday kickoff averaging 356.0 passing yards, good for fifth in the country. Illinois (2-1) is tied for 80th in passing yards allowed, giving up an average of 212.5. Something has to give.
➜ 2. Biloxi Shuckers at Rocket City Trash Pandas. Champaign Central graduate Jake Munroe and his Trash Pandas’ teammates can win a Southern League championship on Tuesday night. Munroe went 2 for 3 with an RBI in the Trash Pandas’ 5-4 win on Sunday night in Game 1.
➜ 3. Champaign Central at Urbana boys’ soccer. The Tigers (4-2-1) host the Maroons (6-1-1) at 6 p.m. Tuesday in a key Big 12 Conference match.
Monticello senior girls’ golfer Sophie Billedo at The News-Gazette office in Champaign on Aug. 9 for the newspaper’s Faces of Fall event.
Ask an athlete
Three questions with Monticello senior girls’ golfer Sophie Billedo. Billedo and the Sages play Tuesday in the Illini Prairie Conference Meet at Lake of the Woods Golf Course in Mahomet:
➜ 1. Three athletes I’d like to have dinner with are … Erling Haaland, Bethany Hamilton and Caitlin Clark.
➜ 2. The TV show I most like to binge-watch is … “Austin & Ally.”
➜ 3. My favorite holiday is … Thanksgiving.
