--Joe Henricksen has an interesting blog post up on the Illinois Warriors, an elite AAU program that helped Naperville Central's Drew Crawford gain national exposure. Neuqua Valley forward Dwayne Evans currently plays for the Warriors.
--We didn't get a chance to link to this last week: Mike O'Toole, the former head coach at Joliet Catholic, will return to Neuqua as an assistant to Todd Sutton. A spot opened up on Sutton's staff with Bob Vozza's move to Metea Valley.
According to Neuqua Valley coach Robin Renner, the University of Arizona intends to honor the scholarship it awarded pitcher Ian Krol. The lefthander, who was suspended for his senior season after his second violation of the District 204 athletic code of conduct, is expected to be an early-round pick in the June amateur draft.
The Redwings wanted this game bad enough that they brought in Creighton signee John Boyle with a runner on second base and one out in the seventh inning. On the day he was scheduled to do bullpen work on the side, Boyle struck out Jordan Williamson looking and then forced Mike Gerber to ground out, notching the save.
"Basically, in a game like this, (we) would maybe throw him an inning and it worked out," Benet coach Jeff Bonebrake said afterward. "We tried to go as long as we could without him. He came in and got some good work in."
Four area teams had baseball games washed away on Tuesday. Here are the updates:
--Naperville Central and Naperville North will each have home games on Friday at 4:30 p.m. The Redhawks will face Glenbard North, while the Huskies take on Wheaton North, which is ranked second in the latest Chicago Sun-Times poll.
--Waubonsie Valley will host a doubleheader against Streamwood on Saturday beginning at 10 a.m.
--Neuqua Valley will travel to St. Charles North on May 13 to make up Tuesday's Upstate Eight Conference game.
Random Internet browsing led me to Neuqua Valley's boys soccer site. I guess old habits die hard while transitioning from reporter to editor. Anyway, I was surprised to see the three-time state-qualifying Wildcats have a new leader.
Tony Kees has replaced Jim Johns as the varsity team's head coach. Here's Kees' public greeting. (Warning: You'll have to make an extra click or two to actually land on Kees' message). As you'll see, Neuqua's getting a heavily decorated and highly motivated leader.
The Chicago Fire Juniors 16-and-under boys team continued their undefeated Northern Illinois Soccer League premiership division play with two victories. On Saturday, the Fire defeated Sockers FC 3-1 and on Sunday defeated Euro Premier Club 6-1. Neuqua Valley's Will Butler is on the team.
Neuqua Valley seniors Brittany and Morgan Williams plan to attend Millikin University in Decatur, Ill., the school announced Wednesday. The Big Blue plays with North Central College in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin, a Division III league.
As a senior, Morgan Williams was named to the Upstate Eight All Conference team. She was an All-Area selection and the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association named her Special Mention All-State. She was a Sun All-City honorable mention choice. Morgan averaged 9.7 points and 2.6 rebound per game. She led the Wildcats with 56 3-pointers and shot a team-high 81.1 percent from the free-throw line.
Brittany Williams was also named to the All-UEC team. She was an All-Area selection and the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association named her Special Mention All-State. She averaged 4.0 points and 3.1 rebounds, while leading the team in steals (79) and assists (101).
The twin sisters played together at Plainfield South before transfering to Neuqua to be coached by their father, Mike Williams, last season.
Neuqua Valley graduate Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton will be reunited with her friend Candace Parker, just like a WNBA mock draft indicated yesterday.
Wisdom-Hylton, a Purdue senior, was selected by the Los Angeles Sparks with the 13th overall pick in today's WNBA Draft. Parker was the overall No. 1 pick by the Sparks last year.
Wisdom-Hylton was the final pick in the first round. When her name was announced she stood up and shared hugs with her stepfather Tony Hylton, her Purdue coach, Sharon Versyp and the Purdue director of basketball operations, Terry Kix.
Today marks the 13th WNBA draft and for the second year in a row it should involve a local player. Last year it was all-world Candace Parker's turn. Parker was chosen first overall by the Los Angeles Sparks.
This year it's time for Neuqua Valley graduate Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton to head to the pros. Wisdom-Hylton is one of 15 seniors invited to attend the draft Thursday in Secaucus, N.J.
Wisdom-Hylton is expected to be picked in the later stages of the first round or early in the second round of the 13-team draft. Her coach at Purdue, Sharon Versyp, believes Wisdom-Hylton will make an impact on the league with her versatility and her growing confidence.
"In February and March she was, 'Give me the ball, I'm going to score, I'm going to stop this, we're going to win,'" Versyp said. "It was totally different. She spoke it -- she walked the walk; she talked the talk. It was a big, huge lift for everybody."
Versyp said one of the biggest challenges facing Wisdom-Hylton is how she'll adjust to the professional lifestyle.
"It's totally different than college athletics," Versyp said. "You've got to really wrap your head around that. It's a business. You don't always have the overall team camaraderie. It's just a totally different mentality that she has to be confident every single day she steps foot on the floor."
--St. Rita, which is ranked No. 7 by Sean Duncan, had such a fast start that SouthtownStar columnist Pat Disabatowas wondering about an unbeaten season. Only two other Illinois baseball teams have done so, but it won't be the Mustangs this season - the other day Whitney Young upset the top-ranked preseason team. In what should be a good dress rehearsal for the postseason, Benet is scheduled to travel to St. Rita on May 25.
--Duncan previously released his top-100 players list, and it included the following area players: John Boyle, Benet senior pitcher; Pat Kaminska, Naperville Central senior pitcher; Mike McKinley, Neuqua senior pitcher; Jake Naumann, Naperville North senior pitcher; and Alex Staehely, Benet senior shortstop.
Here's one way to stretch your entertainment dollar in the middle of a recession. Even if you're priced out of big-league games, U.S. Cellular Field will open its doors on April 15 for Notre Dame and Northwestern.
Tickets are $10 and can be purchased at whitesox.com or the stadium's box office. Proceeds from the game will benefit Chicago White Sox Charities. The club hosted a similar event last year when Notre Dame took on Northern Illinois to support a scholarship fund at the DeKalb university.
There will still be several local connections. Scott Lawler, a Naperville Central graduate, is the Fighting Irish associate head coach. Sophomore Mick Doyle, the infielder out of Benet, has started 17 games this season for Notre Dame and is hitting .271.
Geoff Rowan, less than a year removed from his senior season at Neuqua Valley, is trying to find his role at Northwestern. Rowan has made three appearances out of the bullpen and seen time at catcher, his listed position on the team's roster.
If you're expecting to learn The Naperville Sun's Athlete of the Month for March here, you'll be disappointed. But if you'd like to submit a name or two for consideration, you're in luck.
The voting's still open...
Stumped on who to suggest? How 'bout Waubonsie Valley's Shakeia Pinnick (track and field) or Neuqua Valley's John Mikuzis (water polo) or Naperville Central's Drew Crawford (basketball)? Somebody else?
Purdue senior and Neuqua Valley graduate Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton is among 15 players invited to attend the WNBA Draft on April 9 in Secaucus, N.J.
Wisdom-Hylton's stellar college career wrapped up Tuesday night when the Boilermakers lost to top-seeded Oklahoma in the Elite Eight. She finished with 20 points and 13 rebounds in her final game for the Boilermakers.
Wisdom-Hylton, who plans to walk in Purdue's graduation ceremony May 17, leaves the Boilermakers as the team's career leader in rebounding and blocked shots. She is also third in steals and second in career double-doubles after earning her 25th in Tuesday's game.
Waubonsie Valley's upset loss against Naperville Central last week hurt the Warriors tremendously in the eyes of the nation's girls soccer coaches.
The Warriors, who entered the season ranked No. 1 by the coaches' association, fell out of the top 20 after suffering their first loss in 59 games.
Meanwhile, Neuqua Valley, which opened its season with a 1-0 victory over Naperville North, jumped to No. 8 in the poll released Tuesday. The Wildcats improved from No. 19 in the preseason poll.
The question is, does this poll -- or any national high school ranking -- matter? The teams often downplay any significance. And, really, who knows for sure if current No. 1 St. Pius of Atlanta, Ga., is better than Waubonsie or Neuqua. It's not like the teams ever play each other.
--In searching for Mark Lindo'sreplacement, Naperville North has finished interviewing internal candidates and is in the process of reviewing external resumes for the varsity head coaching job. According to an ad posted on the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association's Web site, the school anticipates teaching openings in driver's and physical education.
--Forgot to mention this earlier, but Waubonsie Valley assistant Matt Walpole will be joining Bob Vozza's staff at Metea Valley.
--Wes Koral, a Joliet Catholic sophomore from Naperville, was named all-area honorable mention by The Herald News after averaging 10.1 points in 15 varsity games.
Brad Engel is the longest-tenured member of The Sun sports staff and has won several national and state awards in his coverage of preps as well as the Chicago Bears, Chicago Fire and general sports.
Patrick Mooney
Patrick Mooney covered politics, prep sports and professional baseball for several print and online media outlets before joining The Sun in August 2007. He concentrates on prep sports, writing features, profiles and breaking recruiting news.
