Your morning look at sports

Pontiac softball gets set to open the postseason this week after closing out the regular season with a pair of shutout wins over Charleston last Friday. PTHS will play its regional opener at home on Tuesday against the winner of Monday’s game between Streator and Metamora.

 

Dwight captures its second regional title in as many seasons with a 14-1 win over St. Anne on Saturday. The Trojans stay home Tuesday to take on Heyworth in the sectional semifinals.

 

Pontiac’s Sarah Christopher set a personal best in the 400-meter dash at the state finals in Charleston, though it missed the cut in Friday’s preliminaries. The Indians tied for fifth in the 4×400 relay.

 

Yu Darvish earned his first win as a Chicago Cub, throwing six strong innings in a 6-1 win over the Reds. The Cubs takes three out of four in Cincinnati.

 

Reynaldo Lopez pitched eight innings of two-hit ball as the Chicago White Sox shutout Texas 3-0.

 

A pair of rookies put on dazzling pitching performances in the St. Louis Cardinals’ 5-1 win over the Phillies. Jack Flaherty pitched into the eighth ining allowing two hits, while Jordan Hicks for the final four outs throwing the five fastest pitches in the majors this season –  two of the pegged at 105 miles per hour.

 

The Normal CornBelters gave up the deciding runs in the seventh inning as Normal falls 5-4 to Evansville.

 

Ed Carpenter won the pole for the Indy 500 on Sunday. It’s the third time Carpenter earned the top qualifying spot. Teammate Danica Patrick qualified for seventh for the final start of her career.

 

The Vegas Golden Knights become hockey’s first expansion team to make the Stanley Cup Finals since the St. Louis Blues 50 years ago. The Knights beat Winnipeg 2-1 to close the NHL Western Conference Finals in five games.

 

Golden State takes to 2-games-to-1 lead over Houston in the NBA Western Conference Finals with a 126-85 thumping of the Rockets.

 

Aaron Wise cruised to his first PGA Tour win. Wise finished 23-under-par for a three-stroke win in the rain-delayed Byron Nelson Classic in Dallas.