Baseball Game Preview: Johnsburg Skyhawks vs. Plano Reapers

The Johnsburg Skyhawks will square off against the Plano Reapers at 4:30 p.m. on Monday. Johnsburg's pitching crew has only allowed 3.2 runs per game this season, so Plano's hitters will have their work cut out for them.

Johnsburg's pitching crew heads into the contest hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Friday. They blew past Harvest-Westminster 10-0. Considering the Skyhawks have won 13 games by more than five runs this season, Friday's blowout was nothing new.

Meanwhile, Plano was able to grind out a solid win over Hinckley-Big Rock on Saturday, taking the game 6-3. The victory continues a trend for the Reapers in their matchups with the Royals: they've now won nine in a row.

Quentin Santoria made a splash while hitting and pitching. He struck out eight batters over three innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit (and not a single walk). He also tossed no earned runs, which is notable because Plano is 6-1-1 when he allows at most three earned runs, but 6-16 otherwise. Santoria was also solid in the batter's box, going 1-for-3 with one home run and two RBI.

In other pitching news, Nathan Tunt looked comfortable as he pitched one inning while giving up no earned runs off one hit. He is becoming a predictor of Plano's success: when he allows at most one hit the team is 2-1 (and 10-16-1 when he doesn't).

Santoria wasn't the only one making solid contact as seven players wound up with at least one hit. One of them was Eric Nunez, who went 1-for-4 with one run, one double, and one RBI. Julian Gates was another, going 2-for-4 with two runs.

Johnsburg's win bumped their record up to 18-9. As for Plano, their victory bumped their record up to 12-17-1.

Johnsburg might still be hurting after the 11-0 loss they got from Plano when the teams last played back in April of 2025. Can the Skyhawks avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.