Here are this week’s candidates for the Antonio’s Pizza Prime Time Performer. You can vote once every 12 hours until the polls close on Friday at 5pm. The winner will receive a $20 gift card to Antonio’s Pizza!
Kahlil Wassell (New Berlin track) The Pretzels are the 1A state champions. A huge reason why is the junior speedster, Kahlil Wassell. He brought home two first place medals and two second place medals from Charleston on Saturday. Wassell won the 400 with a time of 49.00 and anchored the 4×100 meter relay team that won with a time of 42.67. He took second place in the 200 and barely finished behind Connor Icenogle in the 100 with a time of 10.77. We look forward to seeing him next Spring.
Connor Icenogle (Williamsville track) Faster than a speeding Bullet. Okay, sorry I had to. The Bullet senior track star finally beat Kahlil Wassell in the 100 meter dash this season and it’s the one that mattered most. Icenogle is the fastest guy in 1A in the state of Illinois, returning to Williamsville on Saturday with a state title. Connor’s last 100 meter dash in high school came in with a time of 10.74, edging Wassell by .03 seconds.
Tyler Fitzgerald (Rochester baseball) After it was announced last week that Tyler Fitzgerald earned the Illinois Gatorade Player of the Year in the state of Illinois, we are pretty sure he’ll be just as excited to get the nod for the Antonio’s Pizza Prime Time Performer nomination as well. Fitzgerald earns his spot this week after hitting two home runs and driving in five against Springfield in the regional championship. That followed up his game tying home run against Lincoln in the 5th inning that sparked the Rochester rally that got them into the regional title game. Winning the Prime Time Performer vote could provide Tyler with some pizza for his MLB draft party coming up in a couple weeks.
Trevor Minder (Springfield High baseball) The Senators are on to sectional baseball play and it’s sometimes hard to pick one guy to single out on their squad for a PTP nod. This week we’ll throw in shortstop Trevor Minder who’s a great defensive player and a solid hitter at the top of the Springfield High lineup. On Saturday in the regional championship, Minder went 3 for 3 with 3 RBI’s. He had two hits in second inning that gave Springfield a 9-0 lead that they held on to.
Cal Elvers (SHG baseball) With all due respect to Tyler Fitzgerald, there’s not a hotter hitter in central Illinois right now than Cal Elvers. The Cyclones designated hitter started his final postseason run with a two home run, ten RBI game. Yes, he drove in ten runs in one game. He added another dinger and two more RBI’s against Glenwood on Saturday to lead his team to a regional crown. An injury has kept him from catching this season, but he’s still leading the Cycs this postseason at the plate.
Nikole Haberkorn (Glenwood softball) The Titans were trailing 1-0 in the regional championship on Saturday heading to the bottom of the fourth inning. That’s when Nikole Haberkorn decided she was just going to go ahead and help her own case. Glenwood’s pitcher drove in their first run of the game and then added another RBI in the sixth inning which proved to be enough. She shut down the Tornadoes, striking out nine total in the game, after they took that early 1-0 lead and was able to get the 5-2 regional title win.
Amanda Williams (Rochester soccer) Someone has a knack for scoring game winners. A clutch gene? Right place, right time? Whatever it is, Amanda Williams is a winner. The Rochester senior scored the game winner against Triad in the sectional championship on Friday with just seven minutes to play. Earlier in the week against Waterloo, Rochester struggled to find the net until the second half and it was Williams’ header brought the scoreless game and ultimately proved to be the game winner there too.
Talon File (Williamsville baseball) Williamsville was the last 2A baseball team alive in the channel1450.com coverage area thanks to one swing of the bat. The pitcher’s duel between Tristan Weaver and John Beal went to Beal because File hit a solo home run in the third inning off Weaver. Williamsville won the sectional semifinal by a score of 1-0, proving that the knock from the shortstop was the game winner.
Marah Abu-Tayeh (Williamsville soccer) She led the team in scoring all season long, so why not in the final week of the season. The Bullets senior scored four goals in regulation, including the one that sent the super-sectional to overtime and ultimately PK’s with less than five minutes to play. Marah then had two goals in the 1A state finals third place game against Alton Marquette. The Bullets are the fourth best team in the state of Illinois in 1A and Marah made sure the Williamsville history books will have her name in them for quite awhile.
