Beecher soccer star Wences Baumgartner has an easy explanation as to why he will finish in the top 10 in the country in career goals.
He makes it look easy because of his teammates, he said.
“I’ve always had a good support group all four years,” Baumgartner said. “Coach (Dawn) Compton trusted me as a freshman. And all four years, my teammates were great.
“I was just kind of there to put the ball in the back of the net and my teammates contributed heavily to my success.”
Entering this week, he had 184 goals. He passed former Crete-Monee standout Carlos Posada (177 from 2007-11) for No. 1 all-time in the state earlier this month.
According to the National High School Federation, former North Carolina high school star Maynor Espinoza leads the pack with 214 goals scored from 2013-2016.
Baumgartner is currently eighth in the nation with Craig Turley of California ahead of him in seventh with 192 from 1984-87. Only six players have scored more than 200.
The Bobcats (17-5-1) have a regular-season showdown with Herscher Oct. 16 and head into regionals after that so he can move up.
Baumgarter said he doesn’t get wrapped up with numbers and was happier that the Bobcats won the River Valley Tournament on Oct. 11 with a 4-0 victory over Momence.
Baumgartner had two goals, while Tyler Olson and Trevor Panozzo each added one. Goalie Stanley Detjen had seven saves in the shutout.
“It was amazing winning the trophy,” Baumgartner said. “It was a great game. There were a lot of fans. It was loud.”
Another top-10 for Serafin
Beecher senior golfer Peyton Serafin capped off his career with his second top-10 state finish.
Serafin finished tied for ninth in the IHSA Class 1A state tournament Oct. 10-11 at Prairie Vista Golf Course in Bloomington with a two-day total of 150. He was just six shots behind state champion Wyatt Novotny of Bureau Valley in a tightly-packed field at the top of the leaderboard.
Last year, he took third with a 146.
ICE-ing opponents
Manteno beat Streator 6-0 on Oct. 7 to claim the Illinois Central Eight boys soccer title.
Justin Foster, Maddox Toepper and Ben Froeschle each had two goals, while Cayden Lacher recorded the shutout.
Two days later, the Panthers gave powerhouse St. Joseph-Ogden its first loss of the year in a 1-0 thriller. Foster scored the goal and Lacher picked up the clean sheet for the Panthers (15-5-2). St. Joseph fell to 20-1-2.
Goranson wins again
Manteno sophomore Klarke Goranson won her second Kankakee All-Area cross country championship with a time of 18 minutes, 02.69 seconds on Oct. 8 at Kankakee Community College.
The Panthers won the team title with 36 points as Lyla Nevel took third, DeLanie Monroe sixth and Olivia Zwirkoski 10th.