Nugent, 47, a K-5 PE teacher for Bureau Valley, lived out his a dream. He didn’t get to play for the Cardinals, but he did throw out a first pitch at Busch Stadium.

Here is the 2023 Sauk Valley Media All-Area Baseball Team, along with the season's final stats leaderboard.

For a sensational junior season in which he set five single-season school records, and for helping Newman to its first-ever IHSA state tournament and a third-place finish in Class 1A, Brendan Tunink has been named the 2023 Sauk Valley Media Baseball Player of the Year.

After being oh so close to advancing to the state finals each of the last two seasons, the Newman coaching staff knew there were two approaches they could take to start this season. They picked the right one, as the Comets finished third in Class 1A.

Gallery

Alex T. Paschal wraps up the spring sports season in his column Shutter to Think.

The 2023 high school baseball season had its share of surprises and exciting moments in the Sauk Valley Media coverage area. Here are five impressions from this spring.

The Big Northern and Three Rivers Conferences announce their baseball all-conference teams, while the TRAC also releases its softball team and the BNC names its girls soccer squad.

Newman junior Brendan Tunink has been in the middle of the Comets’ success on the baseball diamond all spring, on their way to a third-place finish in in Class 1A. He has been voted by readers as the Sauk Valley Media Athlete of the Week.

The Comets scored six unanswered runs in the fifth and sixth innings to rally to a win over the Blackcats and secure a third-place finish in the IHSA Class 1A State Final Saturday at Dozer Park in Peoria.