Baseball Game Preview: Vandalia Vandals vs. Hillsboro Hiltoppers

The Vandalia Vandals are taking a road trip to square off against the Hillsboro Hiltoppers at 4:30 p.m. on Friday. Vandalia will be strutting in after a win while Hillsboro will be coming in after a defeat.

Vandalia barely beat Shelbyville the last time the pair played, but that sure wasn't the case this time around. The Vandals blew past the Rams 11-1 on Thursday. That looming 11-1 mark stands out as the most commanding margin for the Vandals yet this season.

Brady Elder

Earned Runs

04/11/25 @ Gillespie	6
03/17/25 vs Father McGivney Catholic	6
04/17/25 vs Shelbyville	1
03/25/25 vs Hillsboro	1

Vandalia got a great performance from Brady Elder as he struck out seven batters over five innings while giving up just one earned run off four hits. Elder has become a key player for the Vandals: the team is 2-1 when he allows at most one earned run, but 3-4 otherwise.

At the plate, Brock Willenborg was excellent, going 2-for-3 with two runs and two RBI. Another player making a difference was Andrew Casey, who went 2-for-3 with two RBI and one run.

Meanwhile, Hillsboro was not able to break out of their rough patch on Thursday as the team picked up their eighth straight loss. They lost 9-1 to Mater Dei.

Hillsboro saw three different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Clayton Rufus, who went 1-for-3 with two stolen bases.

Vandalia has been performing well recently as they've won three of their last four matches. That's provided a nice bump to their 5-5 record this season. Those victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 3.0 runs on average over those games. As for Hillsboro, their defeat dropped their record down to 1-12.

Vandalia was able to grind out a solid win over Hillsboro when the teams last played back in March, winning 7-2. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Vandals since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.