The daily pitch from Sports Editor Matt Daniels: July 2, 2026 – The News-Gazette

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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. Champaign Central graduate Sam McArthur will play in the Prospect League All-Star Game when it takes place next Tuesday at Loeb Stadium in Lafayette, Ind.

➜ 2. McArthur is playing close to home this summer with the Danville Dans. The right-handed pitcher, who started his career at Illinois before transferring to Lake Land, has compiled a 3-0 record with a 1.08 ERA in 16 2/3 innings for the Dans. He is one of three Dans selected for the All-Star Game, with outfielder Will Burke and pitcher Drake Hoffa also picked.

➜ 3. Former Illini Aleks Kovacevic and his doubles partner, Thanasi Kokkinakis, beat Santiago Gonzalez and Maximo Gonzalez 5-7, 7-6 (7), 6-2 in their first-round match at Wimbledon on Wednesday.

Numbers game: 22

strikeouts in 20 1/3 innings pitched this season by 2021 Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond graduate Kenzie Brown with the Portland Cascade in the Athletes Unlimited Softball League. Brown has a 2-1 record with a 3.44 ERA in four starts for the Cascade, who play the Chicago Bandits at 6 p.m. on Thursday in Rosemont. Brown was a third-round draft pick by the Cascade in May after pitching the last four seasons at Arizona State.

Crowd control

Three events I’m paying attention to

➜ 1. St. Louis Cardinals at Atlanta Braves. Bismarck-Henning graduate Dylan Dodd struck out two in a scoreless inning of relief for the Braves on Tuesday night. The three-game series wraps at 6:15 p.m. on Thursday from Truist Park.

➜ 2. Tampa Bay Rays at Kansas City Royals. Entering Wednesday night, former Illini Michael Massey had a .260 average with seven home runs and 27 RBI in 67 games for the Royals. This three-game series concludes at 6:40 p.m. on Thursday from Kauffman Stadium.

➜ 3. San Diego Padres at Los Angeles Dodgers. Danville graduate Chuckie Robinson and the Dodgers open a four-game home series at 9:10 p.m. on Thursday.

Ask an athlete

Three questions with recent Centennial graduate Alaina Kimble, who competed in flag football, soccer and track and field for the Chargers:

➜ 1. Three athletes I’d like to have dinner with are … Trinity Rodman, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Tara Davis-Woodhall.

➜ 2. The TV show I most like to binge-watch is … “Gilmore Girls.”

➜ 3. My biggest pet peeve is … when people either don’t care or dont’ give 100 percent.

Matt Daniels is sports editor at The News-Gazette. His email is mdaniels@news-gazette.com, and you can follow him on Twitter (@mdaniels_NG).