Baseball coaches with 1,000 combined wins live here

HUNTLEY - Strong play on both sides of the pitch led Huntley to a three-match win streak in Fox Valley Conference contests.

Huntley gained a shutout win over Prairie Ridge 2-0 for a 3-1 FVC record as of April 18. This victory followed a 5-1 triumph over McHenry and a 4-0 victory at Jacobs. The Red Raiders had a 1-2 record at the Prospect Invite April 19-20 for an 8-4-2 mark.

The Red Raiders are at Hampshire April 23 in a key FVC clash.

HUNTLEY — At the April 18 Huntley Community School District 158 (D158) Board of Education (BOE) meeting, BOE members unanimously approved the hiring of Rita Castans as Huntley High School’s next athletic director.

According to the district’s Director of Communications and Public Engagement Denise Barr, Castans has an extensive background in athletics, coaching, and educational leadership. Additionally, she brings along a wealth of experience and a passion for students that will help her succeed in her new position.

Castans has spent her entire career at D158, starting as a physical education teacher at Marlowe Middle School in 2009 until 2017.

HUNTLEY — Huntley's pitching staff has been one of the reasons the Red Raiders baseball team has one all but one game in the season's first half.

The Red Raiders were 14-1 overall, 8-0 Fox Valley Conference and the pitchers have limited opponents' hitters with a 1.43 ERA and chalked up more than 100 strikeouts.

“We are deeper as a pitching staff than in the past few years,” Huntley head coach Andy Jakubowski said. “We have gone 11 deep this year when we usually go eight or nine deep.

HUNTLEY — In honor of 4/20 (pronounced four-twenty), the unofficial cannabis-oriented holiday that is celebrated across the country on April 20, Jimmy John’s decided to roll out a meal deal called the “Deliciously Dope Dime Bag,” available at participating locations.

The two Jimmy John’s restaurants in Huntley (9704 Route 47 and 12260 Princeton Drive) are currently offering this limited-time promotion that includes a hand-sliced smoked ham and provolone cheese sandwich topped with jalapeño ranch, crispy jalapeños, pickles, oregano-basil seasoning, lettuce, tomato, and mayo.

HUNTLEY — Huntley girls track and field coach Jason Monson received some good news before the start of the indoor season.

About five months after suffering an ankle injury at the Huntley Class 3A sectional, senior Sophie Amin returned for a full season.

“Amin approached her recovery in the same way she approaches so many things, with a tenacity and focus that is unmatched,” Monson said. “We knew she would do all that she needed to do, but the fact that she was able to go full bore at the start of the indoor season was incredible, though not surprising given Amin's character.”

I’m nestled cozily in my chair, still wearing my pajamas, socks, and slippers. Hat and gloves ward off the damp chill of the early morning. My husband hands me a cup of coffee, and I take it gratefully, watching the steam rise, curl, and dissipate into the morning air.

The sky has that expectant pink hue to it. We are also expectant, having risen early from our little camping trailer to greet the sunrise. This was a planned thing, involving Google searches of when the sun would rise, earlier bedtime the night before, and several alarms set.

If history is any measure, I’ll be eating a big bug sometime soon. Maybe several of them.

That’s because the long-awaited 17-year cicadas are clearing their throats underground just beneath the trees right now, and soon the branches above will ring with their robust songs. And every other time in my life that they’ve come to visit—four times in total before this time — they somehow found a way into my mouth.

My first encounter with the gigantic periodic bugs was in 1956, when I was eight years old.

NAPLES, FL - John Schwan, a Sun City Pickleball Charter Club member, is a national champion after winning his age bracket gold medal at the Minto US Open Pickleball Championship April 14 in Naples, Fla.

Schwan, 75, beat four opponents to earn the gold medal. He edged Randy Scott of Griffin, Georgia (who lives at a Del Webb community) for the senior singles skill 4.0 crown in the finals as thousands looked on. Schwan won the first game, 11-3, then the second, 11-8.

ELGIN — On April 13, officers from the Special Investigations Group were investigating gunfire events that had occurred that same day in the 300 block of Adams Street at approximately 12:24 a.m., the 300 block of Ryerson Avenue at 12:49 a.m., and in the 800 block of N Lyle Avenue at 1:00 a.m.

Not long after, authorities made contact with Diego Sandoval, 25, who was driving a vehicle that matched the description of a car that was said to have been involved in the gunfire events.

HUNTLEY — With the indoor meet season in the books, it is time to begin the outdoor meets for the Huntley girls track and field team.

Prior to the start of the outdoor season, Huntley seniors Sophie Amin selected University of South Dakota and Vicky Evitmov picked the University of South Dakota, both D-1 schools, for 2024-25.

The Red Raiders traveled to Crystal Lake South and won a quad meet April 8. HHS had 80 points and beat McHenry, Cary-Grove and Crystal Lake South.

HUNTLEY — It has been so far, so good for the Huntley baseball team, both overall and in Fox Valley Conference games.

Huntley has defeated McHenry twice and Crystal Lake Central once as it aims to defend its league crown.

“We're getting off to a good start in the FVC,” HHS head coach Andy Jakubowski said. “Our situational hitting is coming. We know each player has strengths and weaknesses and we try to play to their strengths.”

The triumphs over McHenry both featured late-game rallies, for 5-2 and 8-3 triumphs, April 5 and 8.