March 17, 2026 | WALLS 102 - Part 8

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2026 IHSA baseball preview: 5 players to watch across The Times coverage area

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2026 IHSA baseball preview: 5 players to watch across The Times coverage area

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2026 IHSA baseball preview: 5 players to watch across The Times coverage area

In an area loaded with baseball talent and as the season gets underway, here are our picks for five players to watch in 2026 across The Times coverage area. A unanimous selection and the 2025 Times Player of the Year, Novotney was one of the top pitchers in 1A last season, going 11-0 with a 1.00 ERA, 119 strikeouts and nine walks in 63 innings. The Crusaders’, leadoff man also batted .415 with 11 doubles, two triples, a home run and 22 RBIs.Novotney was voted to the Tri-County All-Conference first team, the league’s Pitcher and Player of the Year, and was an IHSBCA Class 1A All-State Team honoree. He was a The Times All-Area second-team selection in 2023 and first-team honoree in 2024.A unanimous Times All-Area first team selection last season, Swanson will again be asked to lead the way for the Pirates after batting .396 with 10 doubles, three triples, six home runs and 31 RBIs. On the mound, he went 3-3 with a 4.40 ERA with 52 strikeouts in 55 innings.Swanson was voted to the Interstate 8 All-Conference first team and was a Times All-Area first-team honoree as a sophomore.A unanimous Times All-Area first team honoree last season, Winterrowd hit .416 with 13 doubles, a triple, four home runs and 29 RBIs for the Bulldogs as a junior and will again be asked to be an RBI producer this campaign.Winterrowd was named to the Illinois Central Eight All-Conference Team and was a Times All-Area first-team selection as a sophomore. McBroom was a unanimous Times All-Area first team pick after bursting onto the scene, going 7-1 with a 0.46 ERA and 70 strikeouts and just six walks in 46 innings for the Norsemen. He also hit .279 with a double and 16 RBIs.McBroom was a unanimous selection to the Little Ten All-Conference Team. A unanimous Times All-area first team selection, Behringer batted .410 with nine doubles, three triples, two home runs and 40 RBIs, while going 6-1 with a save on the mound, a 2.01 ERA and 62 strikeouts for the Indians.Behringer was named to the Kishwaukee River All-Conference Team and was voted the league’s Player of the Year. He was also an honorable mention pick to the Illinois High School Baseball Coaches Association Class 2A All-State Team. He was on The Times All-Area Second Team as a sophomore.

2026 IHSA baseball preview: 5 players to watch across The Times coverage area

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Lots of election judges, but few voters for Illinois Valley primaries

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Lots of election judges, but few voters for Illinois Valley primaries

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Lots of election judges, but few voters for Illinois Valley primaries

Polling places in the Illinois Valley were full on Tuesday morning – with election judges, that is. Voters, on the other hand, were pretty scarce.Primary voting kicked off before daybreak and a theme quickly emerged in La Salle County polling places. Efforts to recruit more election judges have been successful, spurred by a pay raise, but there wasn’t much work for the judges to do.Dave Potthoff, an election judge at Peru precinct 9 (St. John’s Lutheran Church), looked around the room and said La Salle County’s boosting election judge compensation to $300 per day, along with recruiting new judges, had borne real fruit.“I’ve never had five judges before,” Potthoff marveled, “not for a primary.” But the extra hands weren’t really needed. Potthoff called voter foot traffic “very scarce” and reported, at 7:15 a.m., just three ballots cast at St. John’s four precincts combined.County clerks had predicted middling to poor voter turnout, citing a lack of local races. Bureau County was expected to be busiest with an open seat for sheriff that drew contested races on both ballots, but the clerks of La Salle and Putnam counties were braced for turnout below 20%.And that was before a winter blast that dumped snow across the region early Monday and sent the mercury plummeting. The temperature stood at 11 degrees Fahrenheit at daybreak Tuesday, which didn’t exactly send voters flocking to the polls.So far, the Bureau County sheriff’s race wasn’t enough of a draw for voters to brave the cold. One Princeton polling place reported 36 voters in the first 2½ hours of voting. Spring Valley polls were unexpectedly slow, as well. Hall precincts 1, 2, 8 and 10, all located at Spring Valley City Hall, reported 33 voters in the first two hours.“Surprised? Yes,” election judge Kelli Whightsil said. “That’s probably the lowest it’s been in a long time, and I’ve been doing this for 20 years.”It was arguably slower across the La Salle County line.At the La Salle VFW Hall, election judge Howard Tuttle reported just three voters in the first hour at La Salle precinct 9, which was one more vote than what was collected at the other three VFW precincts combined.“And I think we’re in the landslide position compared to our peers,” Tuttle quipped. “They’re very envious.”The VFW precincts all were well-staffed, however. Election judge Tina Strickland said the recruitment drive produced a welcome influx of judges – “I’m seeing a lot of new faces” – helped by the county’s decision to boost compensation.At Ottawa Precinct 1 (Knights of Columbus River’s Edge Event Center), it was more of the same. When asked how the day was going, first-time election judge Jeremiah Metille simply said “slow,” noting 15 voters had shown up so far after polls had been open for four hours.

Lots of election judges, but few voters for Illinois Valley primaries

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Lots of election judges, but few voters for Illinois Valley primaries

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Polling places in the Illinois Valley were full on Tuesday morning – with election judges, that is. Voters, on the other hand, were pretty scarce.

Lots of election judges, but few voters for Illinois Valley primaries

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