How 3 Peoria-area teams won 2026 IHSA softball sectional championships

[ASFN Admin]

The 2026 Illinois High School Association softball sectional championships were Friday, May 29.

Here are the three teams from the Peoria area that advanced to supersectionals next week.

CLASS 2A​

Brimfield/Elmwood​

• How they won: Host Brimfield scored seven early runs for an 8-1 sectional championship win over Port Byron Riverdale on Friday, May 29. The Indians struck for three runs in the first, getting successive run-scoring hits from Kendyl Binder and Layla Hersemann, who came around to score on a dropped third strike. B/E added some insurance with four runs in the second. Sawyer Drury's RBI single started the offensive onslaught followed by an Anja Nelson RBI double as well as Reese Legaspi's two-run double. Drury did the rest in the circle, limiting Riverdale (27-5) to one run off seven hits. The Creighton signee struck out nine and walked two for her 16th win of the season. Nelson went 3-for-4 with Legaspi, Drury, Hersemann and Brooke Allen all adding two hits. B/E is back in the Elite Eight for a second consecutive season and fourth time since 2014.
• What's next: Brimfield/Elmwood (29-5) vs. Seneca (36-2), 4:30 p.m. Monday, June 1 at the East Peoria Supersectional.

CLASS 3A​

Dunlap​

• How they won: Dunlap claimed its first sectional title in 34 years by beating host LaSalle-Peru 10-0 on Friday, May 29. Eagles pitcher Sutton Centoni threw a three-hitter with seven strikeouts and let her offense do the rest. The Illinois signee added two of Dunlap's nine hits — all singles — including a run-scoring knock as part of a four-run seventh inning. Rachel Mies drove in three, while Addie Reed added a pair of RBIs. The Mid-Illini Conference champions used two runs in each of the third and fourth innings to take a 4-0 lead. Mies and Hallie Reed drew a bases-loaded walk in the third to score a pair. The fourth-inning runs came by Reed's sacrifice bunt and Lexi Hamer crossing the plate on an error. L-P (23-15) used a three-strikeout and seven-walk effort by Taylor Vescogni. This is the first time Dunlap is playing in the Elite Eight since a 1992 Class A state fourth-place finish.
• What's next: Dunlap (29-8) vs. New Lenox Providence Catholic (29-7), 6:30 p.m. Monday, June 1 at the East Peoria Supersectional.

Washington​

• How they won: One swing of the bat helped send seventh-ranked Washington to its first Elite Eight in five years. Sophie Walker's three-run home run lifted the Panthers to a 3-2 win over No. 18 Champaign Central in the Lincoln Sectional title on Friday, May 29. In the bottom of the sixth inning, Walker stepped to the plate with two outs and two on and planted a 1-2 offering over the center-field fence. This scored Payton Swanson, who reached on a triple, and Addy MacGregor, who drew a five-pitch walk. Central (30-5-1) got a runner on in seventh, but a groundout ended the game. The Panthers trailed 2-0 after back-to-back one-run innings by Champaign Central in the first and second. Swanson finished 2-for-4 for half of Washington's hits. Washington has won five in a row and will look to win the program's third supersectional since 2015.
• What's next: Washington (26-8) vs. Chatham Glenwood (27-2), 6 p.m. Monday, June 1 at the Decatur Supersectional.

Adam Duvall is a Journal Star sports reporter. Email him at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @AdamDuvall.

This article originally appeared on Journal Star: IHSA softball: 3 Peoria-area teams win 2026 sectionals

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