Normal Community is a perfect 4-0 against East Peoria since March of 2016 and they'll have a chance to extend that dominance on Saturday. The Ironmen will be playing at home against the Raiders at 10:00 a.m. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.
East Peoria will be up against a hot Normal Community squad: the team just extended their winning streak to 14. The Ironmen's pitchers stepped up to hand Bloomington a 10-0 shutout on Wednesday.
Jonah Roper
| 05/14/25 @ Bloomington | 7 |
| 05/03/25 vs Moline | 6 |
| 05/07/25 @ Normal University | 5 |
| 04/28/25 vs Richwoods | 3 |
| 04/25/25 vs Normal West | 3 |
Normal Community got a great performance from Jonah Roper as he didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only two hits while striking out seven over five innings pitched. Those seven strikeouts gave Roper a new career-high.
On the hitting side, Drew Stevens was incredible, going 2-for-4 with two runs, two RBI, and one double. Max Heineman was another key player, going 2-for-3 with three runs and one RBI.
Meanwhile, East Peoria came tearing into Friday's match with four straight wins (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 5.5 runs), and they left with even more momentum. They were the clear victors by a 13-1 margin over the Bulldogs.
Jordan Marsh made a big impact while hitting and pitching. On the mound, he didn't allow a single earned run over five innings pitched. Marsh was also solid in the batter's box, going 1-for-3 with one run, one double, and one RBI. That run was his first of the season.
In other batting news, East Peoria got a massive performance out of Jackson Ahrens, who went 3-for-5 with one home run, four RBI, and two doubles. Another player making a difference was Zach Haahn, who went 3-for-4 with one home run and two RBI.
East Peoria was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .429. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Streator only posted a batting average of .261.
Normal Community pushed their record up to 28-4 with the victory, which was their seventh straight on the road. The road wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 10.6 runs over those games. As for East Peoria, their victory bumped their record up to 22-7.
Normal Community came out on top in a nail-biter against East Peoria in their previous meeting back in April of 2023, sneaking past 3-2. Do the Ironmen have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Raiders turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
