The daily pitch from Sports Editor Matt Daniels: May 17, 2024

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Sports Editor Matt Daniels with a look at what’s going on around the area:

Three reasons we love sports today

➜ 1. Rivalry games in IHSA postseason play. Centennial and Champaign Central girls’ soccer meet at 5 p.m. Friday for a Class 2A regional championship match at McKinley Field in Urbana. Then, less than 24 hours later at 11 a.m. Saturday, St. Joseph-Ogden and Unity softball teams square off in a 2A regional championship game at Randy Wolken Field in St. Joseph.

➜ 2. Josh Whitman has an important title now: chair of the NCAA Division I Council.

➜ 3. Former Illini Thomas Detry played well during Thursday’s first round of the PGA Championship, with the 31-year-old shooting a 5-under 66 that has him tied for fourth going into Friday’s second round.

Numbers game: 10.98

Seconds it took Mahomet-Seymour senior Jayvon Irwin to run the 100-meter dash on Wednesday night at the Class 2A Pontiac Sectional. It was one of four wins Irwin was a part of, also crossing the finish line first in the 200 in 22.28 seconds and pairing up with Travis Hoffman, Ryken Kirby and Alexander O’Brien to win the 400 relay in 43.26 and doing the same with O’Brien, Dylan Smith and Kirby to win the 800 relay in 1:31.49. It all added up, too, with M-S winning a sectional team title.

Crowd control

Three events I’m paying attention to

➜ 1. Class 1A Centennial boys’ tennis sectional. Aryan Sachdev of Uni High is the top seed in singles play, while Jason Kim and Tyler Luchinski of Centennial hold that distinction in doubles play when the two-day tournament begins Friday afternoon at Lindsay Courts in Champaign.

➜ 2. Class 1A Salt Fork boys’ track and field sectional. Field events get going in Catlin at 4:30 p.m. Friday before running events ensue at 6:30 p.m., with the host Storm the two-time reigning Class 1A state champions.

➜ 3. Marshall at Westville softball. The Class 2A regional title game on the Tigers’ home field begins at 4:30 p.m. as ace Abby Sabalaskey will try to give Westville its first regional championship since 2006.

Coach’s corner

Three questions with Villa Grove softball coach Jeana Block. The veteran coach with the Blue Devils will try to lead her program to a second straight Class 1A regional title when they host Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley at 4:30 p.m. Friday:

➜ 1. My favorite sports team is ... the Illinois men’s basketball team.

➜ 2. Three coaches I’d like to have dinner with are ... Lou Henson, Dawn Staley and Lisa Bluder.

➜ 3. My biggest pet peeve is ... tardiness.