Friday's prep highlights: Unity softball wins Illini Prairie Conference title

May 9—In baseball

➜ . Three hits from John Timmons and two hits apiece from Tre Cole, Wilson McDaniel, Will Ciciora and Tanner Mast gave the Maroons (20-6) the edge in a Big 12 Conference win against the Irish, with Pipkins striking out eight batters in six innings of pitching work.

➜ . Graydon Leonard doubled during a three-hit performance that led the host Falcons (7-15) past the Hornets in Heart of Illinois Conference play, with Conner Kinzinger and Trent Wetherell combining for four hits and Bo Grider adding a double to help the winning cause.

➜ . Three hits from Jack Bogema — in the form of a single, double and home run that drove in three runs — helped the Panthers (6-4) take down the visiting Knights in HOIC play, with two hits and two runs from E.J. Chaon supporting an eight-strikeout pitching effort from Bogema.

In softball

➜ . Four hits from Paisley Bean and two hits from Payton Beith helped the Vikings (10-13) take down the Purple Raiders in Big 12 Conference play, with Deana Linares striking out six batters and allowing just five hits in six innings of pitching work.

➜ . Two hits apiece from Tessa Pankey, Kyla Dewitt and Payton Clark gave the Raiders (9-10) the edge in a Vermilion Valley Conference win against the Buffaloes (3-16), with Addie Deitz hitting a double for good measure. Kaydence Kraus had two hits for the Buffaloes, one of which was a triple.

➜ . Danika Eisenmenger threw a five-inning no-hitter and Grace Bickers drove in five runs with a pair of home runs to key the Rockets (22-7) past the Grey Ghosts in Illini Prairie Conference play. Kenley Harris added a home run and Shelby Smith chipped in with a double to support the superb outing from Eisenmenger. The win clinched a conference title for Unity, which would finish IPC play undefeated for the first time in program history with a win against Pontiac next Tuesday.

In girls' track and field

➜ . Eureka claimed victory in the 17-team Spartan Classic with 188 points, besting a top five that included Teutopolis (88), St. Joseph-Ogden (65), Rantoul (62.5) and Marshall (44). Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley's Erin McCall won the 3,200-meter run in 12 minutes, 1.68 seconds, while Rantoul's 800 relay team of Carly Lathan, Za'niah Henry, Haley Sage and Tywana Grayer placed first in 1:49.32. SJ-O's Vivian Smith won the discus with a throw of 132 feet, 11 inches and Fisher's Amani Brown won the long jump with a leap of 16-11/2.

➜ . Normal West scored 122 points to win the Big 12 Conference meet at McKinley Field, beating Centennial (88), Bloomington (84), Normal Community (67), Danville (54), Champaign Central (51), Richwoods (33), Urbana (28), Peoria Notre Dame (16) and Peoria (11). Centennial's Nina Brown won the 100-meter dash in 12.12 seconds and the 200 in 25.05 to key the Chargers. Isabella Roundtree, Milka Bwandundu, Ava Clark and Londyn Grant won the 800 relay for the Maroons in 1:47.64, while Bwandundu, Roundtree, Clark and Sarah Donahoe won the 1,600 relay in 4:05.99. Urbana's Lillian DiSanto won the shot put with a throw of 36 feet, 91/2 inches, while Danville's Jada Bell won the discus with a throw of 120-4 and teammate Samantha Brown won the triple jump at 34-81/2.