Baseball Recap: Paxton-Buckley-Loda Has No Trouble Against Bloomington Central Catholic

Paxton-Buckley-Loda lost a heartbreaker the last time they played Bloomington Central Catholic, but it's fair to say they got their revenge given the result of Thursday's contest. The Panthers blew past the Saints 11-3 on Thursday. Considering the Panthers have won three games by more than seven runs this season, Thursday's blowout was nothing new.

Kayden Vance spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered three earned runs on six hits and racked up eight Ks. He has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't tossed less than five strikeouts in three consecutive appearances.

Tyler Cole

Runs

03/31/25 @ Milford	3
03/28/25 vs Ridgeview	3
04/03/25 @ Bloomington Central Catholic	2
03/25/25 @ St. Teresa	2
03/24/25 vs Centennial	2
+ 4 more games

On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Tyler Cole, who scored two runs and stole two bases while going 2-for-4. He has become a key player for Paxton-Buckley-Loda: the team is 4-2 when he posts at least two runs, but 1-2 otherwise.

Paxton-Buckley-Loda is on a roll lately: they've won three of their last four matchups. That's provided a nice bump to their 5-4 record this season. Those victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 8.0 runs over those games. As for Bloomington Central Catholic, they are on a five-game losing streak that has dropped them down to 1-6.

We've got plenty of inter-conference action coming up soon. Paxton-Buckley-Loda will square off against rival Illinois Valley Central at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday. Meanwhile, Bloomington Central Catholic is set to challenge their familiar foe St. Joseph-Ogden at 4:30 p.m. on Monday.