The 4 Peoria-area Class 1A and 2A softball teams playing for a 2023 IHSA sectional title

Welcome to the Sweet Sixteen.

The Illinois High School Association softball sectional semifinals have set the field of 16 in the two smallest classes on Tuesday and Wednesday night.

Back-to-back Class 1A state champ Illini Bluffs and Havana will play in Class 1A, while Tremont takes on two-time reigning state champion Taylor Ridge Rockridge in Class 2A. St. Bede (1A) is also still playing from the Peoria area.

REGIONAL RESULTS:Here are the 6 Peoria-area softball teams headed to IHSA Class 1A and 2A sectionals

Here is what awaits these teams in Friday's sectional finals and how they won in the semis.

CLASS 1A

Illini Bluffs (22-5) vs. Havana (21-6)

• What's next: IB takes on host Havana at 4:30 p.m. Friday. Two-time reigning state champ Illini Bluffs looks to win its fourth sectional title in a row and earn the program's seventh Elite Eight berth. The Tigers are ranked No. 4 in the final Illinois Coaches Association poll. After last year's sectional title loss, Havana, which received votes in the final ICA poll, gets another shot at the Tigers. The Ducks lost 6-3 to IB on May 4, giving up seven hits and committed three errors.
• How they won: In the bottom of the seventh, Lexi Brinkman's walk-off solo home run gave Illini Bluffs a 4-3 win over Pleasant Hill on Wednesday. Brinkman had tied the game in the fourth with a two-out, two-run dinger. IB pitcher Cora Ellison struck out six, walked two and gave up seven hits. Havana won its seventh in a row, pounding out 10 hits in the sectional semis beating Mt. Sterling Brown County, 6-1 on Tuesday. Taryn Wickman was a part of a four-run second inning, bringing home Jaydn Stone, whose single scored Kaydi Miller and Abby Cowell. Wickman, who added a two-out, two-run home run in the sixth, struck out five and tossed a five-hitter.

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CLASS 2A

Tremont (19-7) vs. Taylor Ridge Rockridge (34-1)

• What's next: The unranked Turks get another opportunity to take down the two-time reigning state champ Rockridge at 4:30 p.m. Friday. Tremont has lost in four successive postseasons to the Rockets including a 2-1 sectional semifinal defeat last season. Top-ranked Rockridge has won six sectionals in a row with another state title (2018) in that stretch.
• How they won: Chloe Pierce's squeeze bunt scored Audrey Parn in the bottom of the ninth for a 2-1 win over Port Byron Riverdale. Tremont, which won its fourth in a row, tied the game at 1-1 in the sixth inning thanks to a solo homer by Cassidee Bauer. Turks pitcher Sage Steider struck out seven batters and gave up no hits in relief. Rockridge used a four-run first inning to beat Aledo Mercer County, 6-1 on Tuesday. Cierra Bush drove in a pair along with Payton Brown hitting a solo homer for the Rockets, who are on a 26-game win streak.

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CLASS 1A

St. Bede (24-7) vs. Biggsville West Central (29-7)

• What's next: No. 13 St. Bede, which is in the sectional title for a second successive season, faces seventh-ranked Biggsville West Central at 5 p.m. Friday. The Bruins lost in the 2022 Sweet 16 to West Central, 2-1. A win would put St. Bede in its fourth Elite Eight, following a 2019 third-place finish. WC lost in the super-sectional last season.
• How they won: St. Bede broke open the game with a two-run fifth inning en route to a 6-1 victory over AlWood/Woodhull on Tuesday. Junior pitcher Ella Hermes smacked a fifth-inning, two-run triple, then got four runs in the sixth. Hermes struck out 11, walked two and scattered three hits for the Bruins. Shelby Bowman's RBI provided the game's only run as West Central beat Morrison, 1-0 on Wednesday.

Adam Duvall is a Journal Star sports reporter. Email him at aduvall@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @AdamDuvall.