Baseball Recap: Zion-Benton Takes a Loss

After flying high against Round Lake last Tuesday, Zion-Benton came back down to earth. Zion-Benton fell just short of the Wheeling Wildcats by a score of 8-7 on Friday. The defeat continues a trend for the Zee-Bees in their meetings with the Wildcats: they've now lost three in a row.

Andrew Neargarder

Batters Struck Out

03/21/25 @ Wheeling	4
05/11/24 vs Hoffman Estates	1
05/03/24 vs Ridgewood	1
04/30/24 vs Stevenson	0
04/15/24 @ Lake Forest	3
+ 2 more games

Zion-Benton got a good showing from Andrew Neargarder, who pitched four innings while giving up just one earned (and two unearned) runs off six hits. What's more, Neargarder posted four strikeouts, the most he's had since back in March of 2024.

On the hitting side, Aaden Grider was cooking despite his team's loss, getting on base in all four of his plate appearances with two runs, one triple, and two RBI. That's the most RBI he has posted since back in April of 2024. Brayden Duran was another key player, scoring three runs and stealing a base while going 3-for-3.

Zion-Benton's loss dropped their record down to 1-1. As for Wheeling, the victory also got them back to even at 1-1.

Looking ahead, Zion-Benton will challenge Hoffman Estates at 11:00 a.m. on Monday. As for Wheeling, they will have some time to savor their win since their next game is a little ways off: they'll take on Elgin at 4:45 p.m. on April 1.