Baseball Game Preview: Grant Park Dragons vs. Dwight Trojans

The Grant Park Dragons will venture away from home to square off against the Dwight Trojans at 4:30 p.m. on Monday. Grant Park is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 6.3 runs per game this season.

Grant Park was handed a eight-run loss in their previous outing, but that didn't affect their clutch gene on Thursday. They sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 5-4 win over Gardner-South Wilmington. The victory was a breath of fresh air for the Dragons as it put an end to their four-game losing streak.

Nolan Olthoff made a big impact while hitting and pitching. He looked comfortable on the mound, tossing six innings while giving up just one earned (and one unearned) run off three hits. He has become a key player for Grant Park: the team is 3-1 when he allows at most one earned run, but 3-8 otherwise. Olthoff was also big at the plate, getting on base in three of his four plate appearances with one stolen base, one run, and one double.

Joey McGinley

Doubles (Career)

05/01/25 @ Gardner-South Wilmington	2
04/24/25 @ Watseka	1
04/18/25 vs Momence	1
04/16/25 @ Cissna Park	1
03/27/25 vs Illinois Lutheran	1

In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Joey McGinley, who went 2-for-4 with two doubles, two RBI, and one run. Those two doubles gave him a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Dean Malkowski, who got on base in two of his four plate appearances with two runs and one stolen base.

Meanwhile, Dwight had already won three in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 6 runs) and they went ahead and made it four on Friday. Their pitchers stepped up to hand the Panthers a 7-0 shutout. The Trojans might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won 11 contests by six runs or more this season.

Grant Park's record is now 6-9. As for Dwight, their record now sits at 17-8.

Grant Park might still be hurting after the 15-0 defeat they got from Dwight in their previous meeting back in April of 2024. Can the Dragons avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.