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Baseball: Zach Aakhus parlays chance into long-running career with ThunderBolts

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 02:16:13 -0500

Zach Aakhus’ pro baseball career began with a trip that he figured was a long shot to lead anywhere. In 2009, after finishing his career at Northwest Nazarene University in Idaho, Aakhus attended the Frontier League’s tryout camp and draft. The Windy City ThunderBolts gave him a shot, taking him with their second-round pick. Little did anyone know Aakhus would go on to become the longest-tenured position player in franchise history. Or that he’d still be batting in the middle of the Windy City order in 2013, at age 29. “I still remember getting on that long flight and going …

Baseball: ThunderBolts defeat Florence Freedom 6-4

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 02:16:59 -0500

As they’ve struggled through the first month of the Frontier League season, Windy City ThunderBolts hitters often have been the victim of bad luck, with well-struck balls finding their way into an opponent’s glove. Perhaps Tuesday’s second inning was payback. The T-Bolts scored six runs on five singles — none of them hit hard — in the second and won their second straight with a 6-4 victory over the Florence Freedom at Standard Bank Stadium in Crestwood. The T-Bolts (11-18) sent 11 hitters to the plate in the second, turning a 3-0 deficit into a 6-3 lead. “We were able …

ThunderBolts Notebook: Dyllon Nuernberg welcomes added duty

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 02:16:31 -0500

Dyllon Nuernberg knows he has some big shoes to fill. The fourth-year pro from Las Vegas is the man the Windy City ThunderBolts have turned to in order to fill the void in the starting rotation left when ace Mike Recchia was signed by the White Sox. “(Recchia) is a great pitcher, but I don’t really think there’s any extra pressure on me,” Nuernberg said. “I just want to go out there and give the team a chance to win every time I pitch.” Nuernberg certainly gave his team a shot in his first pro start, allowing two earned runs …

Boys Basketball: Evergreen Park taking summer sessions as lessons

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 02:17:09 -0500

The wins, losses and stats won’t count, but don’t tell Evergreen Park’s Alex Cheatham that summer games don’t matter. The senior forward has the cut and stitches over his right eye to prove how real they are. Playing against Nazareth, Cheatham went up for a rebound and took an elbow square in the face. “I didn’t think it was that bad, but I looked at my hand and there was blood everywhere,” Cheatham later said with a smile. Cheatham and the Mustangs were competing at the 19th Annual Stagg Shootout June 14 and 15 in Palos Hills. The two-day Shootout …

Football: Lemont young but eager to extend winning ways

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 02:16:50 -0500

Albeit without a state championship, Lemont is in the team picture for most successful football programs in Illinois over the last decade. In the last nine years under coach Eric Michaelsen and his veteran staff, the Indians boast a 95-17 record. Lemont, which never lost more than three games in those nine seasons, was second in the state in 2007 and ’08, a quarterfinalist in ’09 and ’10 and semifinalist the last two years, all in Class 6A.

Baseball: St. Laurence’s Mike Kornacker the Beggars Pizza/SouthtownStar 2013 Baseball Player of the Year

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 12:23:06 -0500

Mike Kornacker had a season that will be difficult to duplicate. On the mound the St. Laurence right-hander was 7-1 — including two perfect games — with a 0.97 ERA. Five of his seven wins were shutouts. On offense, he hit .421 with 11 doubles, two triples, five homers, 36 RBI and 20 stolen bases. That’s a monster season, for sure. The good news for Kornacker and St. Laurence is that he’ll get a chance to try to duplicate those gaudy stats next season when he’s a senior. Not only that, he’ll also get a chance to repeat one more …

Baseball: Mount Carmel’s Brian Hurry the Beggars Pizza/SouthtownStar 2013 Baseball Coach of the Year

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 02:07:57 -0500

When Brian Hurry was preparing for his final season of baseball at College of St. Francis in Joliet, he experienced a moment that would alter his life forever. “A light bulb turned on inside my head,” Hurry, now 40, recalled. “Baseball had been in my life since I was 5 years old. I was like, ‘Oh, my God, this is it. I can’t go without baseball in my life. I have to have baseball in my life.’ ” A fifth-year senior at the time, Hurry already had earned a degree in journalism. Brian Hurry, sports writer? “I decided to shift …

Baseball: Beggars Pizza/SouthtownStar 2013 All-Area Baseball Team

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 12:02:13 -0500

Here is the 2013 Beggars Pizza/SouthtownStar 2013 All-Area Baseball Team.

Nationwide drivers raise funds for Leffler’s son

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 23:24:18 -0500

Like any catastrophic news, NASCAR Nationwide driver Regan Smith first heard of Jason Leffler’s death on social media. Leffler was killed Wednesday when the sprint car he was racing slammed into a wall during a race at a dirt track in Swedesboro, N.J. Leffler was 37. “I was in Colorado at the time and, like a lot of folks, I caught wind of it on Twitter,” Smith said. “I didn’t know how it happened, but I knew it sounded like a bad situation. “Jason was doing what he loved. We know the risks that come with that, now we have …

Big day for Aakhus in ThunderBolts’ victory

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 02:07:02 -0500

The Windy City ThunderBolts took a lot of frustration out on the Southern Illinois Miners on Sunday night. Zach Aakhus drove in five runs and Daniel Cropper tossed eight shutout innings as the T-Bolts salvaged the final contest of the three-game series and snapped a three-game losing streak with an 8-0 win at Standard Bank Stadium in Crestwood. “Every game from here on out is huge,” Aakhus said. “We’ve dug ourselves a hole and it’s important to take every game seriously. It’s hard to say that this was a must-win in June, but that’s almost what it was.” Windy City …

Baranek: Podbielniak a prestigious prognosticator

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 13:54:52 -0500

I said it last year, and I guess I’ll have to say it again today. I should have listened to Wendy. The Wendy I’m talking about is Tinley Park coach Wendy Podbielniak, the one we had a big story about in Sunday’s paper for being our 2013 SouthtownStar Softball Coach of the Year. Last season she and I had a conversation about which team I should pick to roll in the Class 4A sectionals and go to state. She told me to take Marist. No, she insisted that I take Marist. I took Sandburg. Sandburg went on to lose to …

Marist’s Wyderski is 2013 Jenny’s Steakhouse SouthtownStar Softball Player of the Year

Sun, 16 Jun 2013 02:13:10 -0500

Brooke Wyderski says she didn’t know how to react when not once, but twice, during Marist’s Class 4A sectional final game against Sandburg she was intentionally walked with a runner on first base. “I was not expecting it at all. I had never been intentionally walked, besides one other game in the playoffs,” she said. “It was frustrating, especially in the seventh inning when I wanted to hit so bad. But you have to take it as being respected, as a compliment.” Wait till next year. The 2013 Jenny’s Steakhouse/SouthtownStar Softball Player of the Year most assuredly will be on …

Tinley Park’s Podbielniak is 2013 Jenny’s Steakhouse/SouthtownStar Softball Coach of the Year

Sun, 16 Jun 2013 02:14:07 -0500

If there’s one thing Tinley Park coach Wendy Podbielniak never will pass up, it’s a chance to present a challenge to her players. So it was two years ago when she spied Alyssa Gunther and Alyssa Williams looking at a pretty barren softball banner hanging in the gym. “I said, ‘What are you guys doing?’ ’’ Podbielniak related. “One of them said, ‘There’s a lot of room on that banner.’ I said, ‘Well, that’s for you to fill it.’ ’’ The banner won’t be quite so barren after the 25-8 Titans made their mark in school history with a third-place …

2013 SouthtownStar All-Area Softball team

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 14:00:55 -0500

Here is the 2013 Jenny’s Steakhouse/SouthtownStar All-Area Softball Team.

Lemont’s Jerantowski is 2013 Chicago Fire/SouthtownStar Girls Soccer Player of the Year

Sun, 16 Jun 2013 02:14:49 -0500

Kim Jerantowski has made a habit out of making defenders look silly, using her dribbling skills to amaze fans with a wide array of crossover moves. There’s nothing she enjoys more. “I just love beating people,” she said. “Dribbling past people is just a lot of fun. My biggest strength is probably dribbling.” Jerantowski, a junior midfielder who’s committed to Northwestern, finished with 21 goals and 17 assists and led a young Lemont squad to a fourth-place finish in Class 2A. Her strong all-around play and leadership abilities helped her earn the title of 2013 Chicago Fire/SouthtownStar Girls Soccer Player …

Lincoln-Way North’s Murphy is 2013 Chicago Fire/SouthtownStar Girls Soccer Coach of the Year

Sun, 16 Jun 2013 02:14:26 -0500

When Lincoln-Way North went into the season after losing a supremely talented senior class in 2012 — a group that included 2012 Chicago Fire/SouthtownStar Girls Soccer Player of the Year Rita Craven, All-State midfielder Jessica Bean and two-time All-Area goalie Michelle Balcerzak, among others — Phoenix coach Mike Murphy wasn’t quite sure what to expect. An outright SouthWest Suburban Red title, a sectional championship appearance and a 15-4-5 finish were not things he saw coming. “I knew we had a talented group, but we had lost so much talent from last year,” Murphy said. “This was definitely a very surprising …