Mason Schweizer

6 days ago | shawlocal.com | Mason Schweizer

BEECHER – Lucas Rink fondly remembers what assistant coach Chad Farrell told Rink and his Wilmington baseball teammates following the Wildcats’ 3-0 opening day loss at Bishop McNamara. “He said, ‘We’re gonna get another crack at them (in the postseason) and we’re gonna make a run,’“Rink said. The Wildcats got that crack at the Fightin’ Irish in Saturday’s Class 2A Beecher Sectional championship game, one that started off as a pitchers’ duel between Rink and Dom Panozzo.

6 days ago | shawlocal.com | Mason Schweizer

Members of the Wilmington baseball team await the arrival of their captains, Kyle Farrell (8) and Lucas Rink, with the Class 2A Beecher Sectional championship plaque after defeating Bishop McNamara 5-4 in the championship game Saturday, May 31, 2025. (Mason Schweizer)Mason SchweizerMason Schweizer joined the Daily journal as a sports reporter in 2017 and was named sports editor in 2019.

6 days ago | shawlocal.com | Mason Schweizer

IHSA State Preliminaries: Out of the 27 area boys track and field athletes that made it to the preliminary round of the state track and field meet, Bradley-Bourbonnais’ Malachi Lee, Coal City’s Julian Micetich and Manteno’s Briggs Cann were the lone three to make it to Saturday’s finals. Lee took third in the Class 3A long jump prelims Friday (6.93 meters). Micetich finished fifth in the Class 2A 110-meter hurdles (14.74 seconds) and Cann took eighth in the 400 (50.48).

1 week ago | shawlocal.com | Mason Schweizer

Beecher's Taylor Norkus, center, hugs teammate makenna Albert while Ava Lorenzatti, left, and Elena Kvasnicka also rejoice following the Bobcats' 1-0 win over Seneca in the Class 2A Seneca Sectional championship game Friday, May 30, 2025. (Mason Schweizer)Mason SchweizerMason Schweizer joined the Daily journal as a sports reporter in 2017 and was named sports editor in 2019. Aside from his time at the University of Illinois and Wayne State College, Mason is a lifelong Kankakee County resident.

1 week ago | shawlocal.com | Mason Schweizer

BEECHER – Jacob Lotz and the Bishop McNamara baseball team know that with the abundance of quality arms on their pitching staff, they don’t need to score very many runs to win games. And with Callaghan O’Connor locked in on the mound in Thursday’s IHSA Class 2A Beecher Sectional semifinal against Manteno, Lotz knew he had the prime opportunity to break the Fightin’ Irish’s 1-0 lead open when he stepped in the batter’s box with two on and one out in the top of the sixth.