Baseball Game Preview: Illinois Valley Central Grey Ghosts vs. Monticello Sages

Illinois Valley Central is on a three-game streak of home wins, while Monticello is on a four-game streak of away wins: one of those streaks is about to end. The Grey Ghosts will host the Sages at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday. The two teams have allowed few runs on average (Illinois Valley Central 3.5, Monticello 2.5) so any runs scored will be well earned.

Illinois Valley Central is headed in fresh off scoring the most runs they have all season. They blew past Peoria Notre Dame 22-1 on Thursday. The Grey Ghosts might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won five matchups by seven runs or more this season.

Keegan Schol made a big impact while hitting and pitching. On the mound, he struck out six batters over three innings while giving up just one earned run off four hits (and not a single walk). Schol was also solid in the batter's box, scoring a run while going 1-for-2.

Gabe Perez

Runs Batted In (Career)

04/10/25 @ Peoria Notre Dame	5
03/28/24 @ Pontiac	2
03/19/24 @ Limestone	2
03/29/25 vs Tolono Unity	1
03/26/25 @ Streator	1

In other batting news, Gabe Perez was a standout: he got on base in all four of his plate appearances with one home run, four runs, and five RBI. Those five RBI gave him a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Griffen Landsverk, who went a perfect 3-for-3 with one home run, six RBI, and two runs.

Illinois Valley Central always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .750. That's the best OBP they've posted all season.

Meanwhile, Monticello sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 4-2 win over Heyworth on Thursday. That's two games straight that the Sages have won by exactly two runs.

Monticello is on a roll lately: they've won eight of their last nine games. That's provided a nice bump to their 10-2 record this season. Those victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.3 runs on average over those games. As for Illinois Valley Central, their win bumped their record up to 8-4.

Illinois Valley Central came up short against Monticello in their previous meeting back in April of 2024, falling 4-1. Can the Grey Ghosts avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.