Panthers taking Jenkins into Elite 8 one more time

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The Putnam County Panthers apparently don’t want to send their coach off into retirement just yet.

The Panthers outlasted Tri-County Conference foe Streator Wood-land/Flanagan in a 16-inning marathon Saturday for a 3-2 win in the sectional championship at Gardner-South Wilmington.

On Monday, PC took Jenkins into the Elite Eight for the third time in  his 30th and final season with a 6-2 win over Immaculate Conception in the Lisle Supersectional.

PC (19-8) advances into the Class A State Tournament at Silver Cross Field in Joliet at 1 p.m. Friday against the winner from Springfield between Jacksonville Routt and Astoria.

Monday’s game was scoreless for 13 innings until the top of the 14th inning when Woodland’s Ben Roeschley singled in two runs to take the lead. PC rallied for two runs in the bottom of the 14th inning to tie the game and then won it in the bottom of the 16th inning when Joe Brizgis scored the winning run on a pop caught by the second baseman.

Winning pitcher Kevin Fay went 11 2/3 innings, with 16 strikeouts. Joe Brizgis was 3-7, with two runs scored, to lead the Panthers.

The Panthers had 11 hits in Monday’s Supersectio-nal at Benedictine University.

2A baseball: It was one up, one down for the NCIC Lincoln in 2A sectional title games Saturday. The host Grey Ghosts of Chillicothe IVC topped Farmington 9-3 while Mendota fell to Hampshire 8-7 at Byron. IVC and Hampshire were to meet in Monday’s Supersectional at Rockford.

Nick Wise had two hits and two RBIs for the Trojans.

3A baseball: Two NCIC teams captured 3A regional titles on Saturday. L-P’s came at the expense of NCIC Reagan rival Streator 8-5 as the No. 2 seeded Cavaliers upended the No. 1 seed Bulldogs at Washington Park. Brett Burkhart and Ryan Huebbe each drove in two runs for L-P. Winning pitcher Karch Kowalkczyk struck out eight Bulldogs.

At Rock Island, Rock Falls ace Jarred Hippen one-hit the Rocks with 10 strikeouts, but hit four batters. Freshman Jakob Junis led the Rockets with three hits.

Next up for the Rockets will be a sectional semifinal at Rochelle on Wednesday vs. Sycamore. L-P will face Bartonville Limestone at 4:30 p.m. Thursday at Galesburg.

2A softball: The Morri-son Mustangs continue to stampede to state, shutting out Genoa-Kingston 10-0 to claim Saturday’s sectional championship at Byron. Morrison was to face Elgin St. Edward in the Lisle Supersectional on Monday.

At Farmington, Sherrard, the Bureau Valley Regional champ, picked off another Olympic Conference foe by defeating Rockridge 5-1 in the sectional finals.

3A softball: The NCIC Reagan claimed three 3A regional softball titles. LaSalle-Peru’s Hannah Huebbe blanked Streator 2-0 at Yorkville. She struck out seven. Kelsey Turezyn had two hits and two RBIs for the Lady Cavs, who will face Sterling on Wednesday in Rochelle.

Sterling (12-13) was a 4-3 winner over Sycamore at Rock Falls.

At Rock Island, No. 2 seed Geneseo tripped No. 1 seed Alleman 1-0 with Chelsea Bickett tossing a 4-hit shutout.

The Maple Leafs will face Morton in sectional action Wednesday at Metamora.