The Villa Grove Blue Devils will face off against the Arcola Purple Riders at 4:30 p.m. on Monday. The two teams are sauntering into the matchup backed by comfortable wins in their prior games.
Villa Grove took a loss when they played away from home on Monday, but their home fans gave them all the motivation they needed on Thursday. They blew past Cumberland 15-5. The result was nothing new for the Blue Devils, who have now won seven matchups by eight runs or more so far this season.
Piper Kiser made a splash while hitting and pitching. She struck out six batters over five innings while giving up three earned (and two unearned) runs off five hits. She has been nothing but reliable on the mound: she hasn't given up more than two walks in three consecutive appearances. She was also big at the plate, getting on base in three of her four plate appearances with two runs, one stolen base, and one RBI.
In other batting news, Villa Grove let Madison Hinds and Olivia Jones run wild. Hinds went 3-for-4 with six RBI and one run, while Jones went 1-for-3 with one home run and three RBI. Izzy Dodd was another key player, going 2-for-4 with two runs and one RBI.
Villa Grove kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 12 hits. They are a perfect 8-0 when they post 11 or more hits.
Meanwhile, after only one run in their last contest, Arcola made sure to put some runs up on the board against Tri-County [Kansas/Shiloh/Oakland] on Thursday. The Purple Riders were the clear victors by an 11-5 margin over the Titans. The Purple Riders haven't had any issues with the Titans recently, as the game was their seventh consecutive win against them.
Villa Grove's victory was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 10-5. The home wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 17.3 runs over those games. As for Arcola, their victory bumped their record up to 8-10.
Villa Grove was able to grind out a solid win over Arcola in their previous meeting back in May of 2024, winning 7-3. Do the Blue Devils have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Purple Riders turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
