Baseball Game Preview: Gardner-South Wilmington Panthers vs. Grant Park Dragons

Gardner-South Wilmington and Grant Park are an even 5-5 against one another since April of 2019, but likely not for long. The Panthers will look to defend their home field on Thursday against the Dragons at 4:30 p.m. Grant Park took a loss in their last game and will be looking to turn the tables on Gardner-South Wilmington, who comes in off a win.

Gardner-South Wilmington proved they can win big on Tuesday (they won by eight) and on Wednesday they proved they can win the close ones too. They had just enough and edged out Hinckley-Big Rock 9-8.

Case Christensen

Runs (Career)

04/30/25 vs Hinckley-Big Rock	3
03/17/25 vs Earlville	2
04/29/25 @ Grant Park	1
04/16/25 vs Iroquois West	1
04/08/25 @ Momence	1

Case Christensen was incredible, going 3-for-4 with three runs, one double, and one RBI. Those three runs gave him a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Cole Hampson, who went 1-for-3 with two stolen bases, one run, and one RBI.

Meanwhile, Grant Park was not able to break out of their rough patch on Tuesday as the team picked up their fourth straight defeat. They came up short against Gardner-South Wilmington, falling 12-4.

Nolan Olthoff made the most of his time at bat despite the final result and got on base in three of his four plate appearances with one run and one double.

Grant Park's loss dropped their record down to 5-9. As for Gardner-South Wilmington, their win bumped their record up to 6-9.

Gardner-South Wilmington took their victory against Grant Park when the teams last played on Tuesday by a conclusive 12-4 score. Will the Panthers repeat their success, or do the Dragons have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.