The Urbana Hillclimbers will head out to challenge the Graham Local Falcons at 5:15 p.m. on Friday.
Urbana fought the good fight in their extra-innings contest against London on Wednesday but wound up with a less-than-desirable result. They fell 7-4 to the Red Raiders. The Hillclimbers have now taken an 'L' in back-to-back games.
Grady Lantz was huge no matter where he played even without the win. On the mound, he struck out 12 batters over 5.2 innings while giving up just one earned (and two unearned) runs off four hits. Lantz was also big at the plate, getting on base in three of his five plate appearances with one stolen base, one run, and one double.
In other batting news, Colt Teepe was cooking despite his team's loss, going 1-for-3 with two stolen bases and one RBI. Colton Lafferty also deserves some recognition as he brought in his first RBI of the season.
Meanwhile, Graham Local entered their tilt with Northwestern on Tuesday with two consecutive wins, and they'll enter their next game with three. They blew past the Warriors 18-4. The result was nothing new for the Falcons, who have now won six matches by six runs or more so far this season.
Like Urbana, Graham Local also got a great game from a two-way player: Adam Levy. He looked comfortable on the mound, pitching four innings while giving up just one earned (and two unearned) runs off three hits. Levy was also stellar in the batter's box, going 3-for-4 with five RBI, three runs, and two doubles. Those five RBI gave him a new career-high.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Holden Dunham, who went 4-for-5 with three runs and three RBI. Those three RBI gave him a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Carsen Rogers, who got on base in three of his four plate appearances with three runs and one stolen base.
Graham Local kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 14 hits. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their hit total in three consecutive games.
Graham Local's record now sits at 8-4. As for Urbana, their loss dropped their record down to 4-8.
Urbana came out on top in a nail-biter against Graham Local in their previous meeting back in April of 2024, sneaking past 4-3. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Hillclimbers since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
