By Mike Walsh Correspondent Luke Sefcik, a Marist graduate who is playing baseball at Central Michigan, was named the Mid-American Conference’s Player of the Week for April 10. The redshirt freshman second baseman hit .625 while helping the Chippewas to a 3-1 record for the week. He collected 10 hits in 16 at-bats, drove in…
Read More
By Jeff Vorva Staff Writer Max Strus had a money game on April 14. Chicago Bulls fans, however, may not have been too happy with the Hickory Hills native’s performance in a 102-91 win to knock the Bulls out of the NBA postseason. Strus, a former Stagg star who played briefly with the Bulls, scored…
Read More
By Mike Walsh Correspondent Illinois State baseball player Derek Salata was chosen a National Pitcher of the Week by Collegiate Baseball News for the period ending March 27. In a 2-0 loss to Missouri Valley Conference foe Belmont on the road March 24, the fifth-year senior worked six innings, striking out 11 Bruins while walking…
Read More
By Tim Cronin Correspondent BLOOMINGTON — Robert Wagner, with a name straight out of Hollywood, starred in the high jump at the Illinois Top Times meet, held March 25 at Illinois Wesleyan University. The only thing missing for the Oak Lawn senior was a spotlight — and, from Wagner’s viewpoint — breaking his indoor personal…
Read More
By Jeff Vorva Staff Writer For more than a century, Chicago Catholic League football has bordered on being legendary. For decades, its baseball teams have frequently represented the league at the state tournament. But what the CCL’s basketball teams did last week was almost unheard of, when 10 of the league’s 14 teams brought home…
Read More
Caravan’s Seth Mendoza and Crusaders’ Bobby Conway are also kings of the mat By Steve Millar Correspondent After winning his fourth high school wrestling state championship, Mount Carmel senior Sergio Lemley took a moment to look back on his career and what it took to have so much success. “It’s all in my heart and…
Read More
By Jeff Vorva Staff Writer It couldn’t have been scripted much better than this. Two neighborhood rivals, both with 8-4 records in the South Suburban Red, went to battle on Feb. 7 with the girls basketball conference title on the line, and the Spartans earned their third straight Red title by knocking off the Bulldogs,…
Read More
By Jeff Vorva Staff Writer With the odds of 8-to-1, 16-to-1 or even 32-to-1 of winning a holiday basketball tournament, championships are not easy to come by. But the area produced four champions — two boys teams and two girls teams — at the end of December as Mount Carmel won the 16-team Pekin Tournament,…
Read More
By Mike Walsh Correspondent The accolades are adding up for Lenoir-Rhyne University football player Andre Jefferson. Jefferson, who prepped at Richards, was one of three Bears named to the Division II Conference Commissioner’s Association All-Super Region Two Second Team for the 2022 season. Lenoir-Rhyne is in Hickory, N.C. The sophomore defensive tackle finished the season…
Read More
By Jeff Vorva Staff Writer Some of the top football players in the area made their college decisions official on Dec. 21, with one of the literally largest signings coming at Brother Rice. Defensive lineman Trey Pierce, all 6-foot-3, 290 pounds of him, signed a National Letter of Intent to play at Michigan. Pierce has…
Read MorePrep News
Softball | Jocelyn Hovanec scores two runs, Ks 12 in Chicago Christian win
By Xavier Sanchez Correspondent Chicago Christian is working to find its footing in the inaugural season of the Chicagoland Christian Conference. The Knights entered this week 6-8 overall and 4-6 in the CCC, putting them in fifth place with just two conference games to play among their final seven regular-season contests. The Knights have had…
Boys Volleyball | Chicago Christian finishes April strong, takes second at Ridgewood Invitational
By Xavier Sanchez Correspondent A busy and largely successful final seven days of April saw Chicago Christian briefly climb back to the .500 mark after a tough first month of the season. The Knights (11-12, 4-4 Chicagoland Christian Conference) have won seven of their past 10 matches, all of which were played over a seven-day…
Boys Volleyball | Marist hands Glenbard West first loss of season
By Jeff Vorva Correspondent Marist was scary good in the first set. The RedHawks won it 25-12. Even by Marist standards, that’s pretty impressive. Complete dominance. What’s even more stunning is that it came against the second-ranked team in the nation. The RedHawks, who came into the match ranked sixth in the country in the…
Sophia Smith’s brace sinks Red Stars
By Jeff Vorva Correspondent Home has not been that sweet lately for the Chicago Red Stars. The team lost its second straight game at SeatGeek Stadium with a 2-0 setback to Portland in front of an announced crowd of 4,443 on April 27. Portland star Sophia Smith scored in the 10th and 26th minutes, then…
Nazareth Academy celebrates ‘special talent’ J.J. McCarthy in NFL Draft
By Steve Metsch Dennis Moran has no doubts that J.J. McCarthy – the former Nazareth Academy quarterback who is now with the Minnesota Vikings – will succeed in the National Football League. Moran was among about 60 or so Nazareth Academy fans, friends and coaches who gathered Thursday night at The Stadium Club in McCook…
Brother Rice names Al Perez next soccer coach
By Jeff Vorva Correspondent A few new coaches are dotting the area high school athletic scene. One of the more notable hires was Brother Rice bringing Al Perez aboard as the soccer coach. Perez led Chicago Public League power Washington to a Class 2A state championship in 2013, a fourth-place finish in 2015 and a…
Pickleball courts coming to Palos Park
By Jeff Vorva There will finally be outdoor pickleball in Palos Park. In a process that went longer than anticipated, the Palos Park Village Council was able give the green light to get a pickleball project started on the Village Green. The council voted April 8 to award the contract to U.S. Tennis Court Construction…
Dread over car drifters on streets
. Reckless drivers take over SW Side intersections . By Tim Hadac At the April meeting of the Garfield Ridge Neighborhood Watch, a police officer admitted that the drag racing/drifting phenomenon seen and heard in the Midway area in recent years “probably will increase, but we hope not.” The admission was triggered by a brief…
CTA launches ‘chat’ feature on website
. From staff reports Artificial Intelligence has made another step forward at the Chicago Transit Authority. CTA officials recently launched the “Chat with CTA” chatbot, a new virtual automated service featured on transitchicago.com. The communication tool allows riders to report issues, provide feedback and receive answers in real-time. Additionally, it provides the CTA with customer feedback where…
New effort to aid kids with disabilities
. From staff reports A new grant program aimed at providing financial assistance to families of children with disabilities was launched recently by Mayor Brandon Johnson, in partnership with the Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities and Ada S. McKinley Community Services. Children with disabilities is a population disproportionately affected by the pandemic, officials said.…
Dart warns of Sheriff’s Office imposters
. From staff reports Cook County Sheriff Thomas J. Dart recently alerted the public of an uptick in telephone and email phishing scams in which scammers identify themselves as a Sheriff’s Office employee in an attempt to defraud victims. Scammers are using the actual names and respective titles of Sheriff’s Office employees to appear legitimate.…
Boys Volleyball | Chicago Christian finishes April strong, takes second at Ridgewood Invitational
By Xavier Sanchez Correspondent A busy and largely successful final seven days of April saw Chicago Christian briefly climb back to the .500 mark after a tough first month of the season. The Knights (11-12, 4-4 Chicagoland Christian Conference) have won seven of their past 10 matches, all of which were played over a seven-day…
Boys Volleyball | Marist hands Glenbard West first loss of season
By Jeff Vorva Correspondent Marist was scary good in the first set. The RedHawks won it 25-12. Even by Marist standards, that’s pretty impressive. Complete dominance. What’s even more stunning is that it came against the second-ranked team in the nation. The RedHawks, who came into the match ranked sixth in the country in the…
Sophia Smith’s brace sinks Red Stars
By Jeff Vorva Correspondent Home has not been that sweet lately for the Chicago Red Stars. The team lost its second straight game at SeatGeek Stadium with a 2-0 setback to Portland in front of an announced crowd of 4,443 on April 27. Portland star Sophia Smith scored in the 10th and 26th minutes, then…
Nazareth Academy celebrates ‘special talent’ J.J. McCarthy in NFL Draft
By Steve Metsch Dennis Moran has no doubts that J.J. McCarthy – the former Nazareth Academy quarterback who is now with the Minnesota Vikings – will succeed in the National Football League. Moran was among about 60 or so Nazareth Academy fans, friends and coaches who gathered Thursday night at The Stadium Club in McCook…
Brother Rice names Al Perez next soccer coach
By Jeff Vorva Correspondent A few new coaches are dotting the area high school athletic scene. One of the more notable hires was Brother Rice bringing Al Perez aboard as the soccer coach. Perez led Chicago Public League power Washington to a Class 2A state championship in 2013, a fourth-place finish in 2015 and a…