Clutch Sports Media

1 week ago | clutchsportsil.com | Jonathan Michel

WASHINGTON — Alec Peters remembers his favorite part of summers as a child. “All the Washington camps, I remember being a part of and those players, and they were like my heroes at the time,” Peters said. Now, many young basketball players in Central Illinois will look up to Peters as their hero. Peters’ basketball journey has taken him around the globe, from Washington, Illinois to Valparaiso, Indiana to Phoenix and to Greece.

2 weeks ago | clutchsportsil.com | Jonathan Michel

JOLIET — Baseball is a game of inches. A pitch an inch more outside. A glove an inch more to the right. A swing an inch more out in front. If all — perhaps even one — of those things happened, Normal Community would have been playing for a Class 4A baseball state title. But none of those minute measurements favored the Ironmen as they endured a 2-1 loss in eight innings to Libertyville in Friday’s Class 4A state semifinal at Slammers Stadium in Joliet.

2 weeks ago | clutchsportsil.com | Rodrigo Perez

NAPERVILLE — Being on any sports team requires a substantial time commitment, often causing many athletes to spend less time with their own families and invest more time with their team. For Peoria Notre Dame girls soccer, both aspects are one in the same. “I wouldn't want a different team, that’s my family, there’s nothing more I can ask from them,” Irish midfielder Hannah Daly said.

3 weeks ago | clutchsportsil.com | Rodrigo Perez

NAPERVILLE — The final whistle of any sporting event can bring thoughts of transcendental highs and crushing lows. When the final whistle was blown in the Class 2A state semifinals between the Peoria Notre Dame girls soccer team (25-1-1) and Springfield, PND coach Ben Ralph only had one thought.

3 weeks ago | clutchsportsil.com | Joey Wright

CHAMPAIGN — The Eureka baseball team’s bid for program history featured plenty of twists and turns in its penultimate game. But the Hornets were eliminated from contention for their first state title by a 6-5 loss to Sacred Heart-Griffin in a Class 2A semifinal on Friday afternoon at Illinois Field. “We wanted to get this one and get into that final game,” Eureka coach Dane Wear said. That’s everybody’s goal, everybody’s dream.