Baseball Game Preview: Richwoods Knights vs. Normal Community Ironmen

Richwoods hasn't had much luck against Normal Community recently, but that could start to change on Wednesday. The Knights will look to defend their home field against the Ironmen at 7:00 p.m.

Richwoods managed to slip by Peoria Notre Dame the last time these teams faced off, but didn't have those same answers this time around. The Knights came up short against the Irish on Tuesday, falling 13-6. For those keeping track at home, that's the biggest defeat the Knights have suffered since May 15, 2024.

Meanwhile, Normal Community had already won two in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 6 runs) and they went ahead and made it three on Monday. Their pitchers stepped up to hand the Knights a 4-0 shutout.

Jacob Engel tossed a big game, keeping things locked down with no earned runs or hits while striking out nine over five innings pitched. Those nine strikeouts gave him a new career-high.

On the hitting side, Andrew Naour and Brady Burkhart did most of the damage at the plate: Naour went 2-for-3 with one stolen base, one run, and one RBI, while Burkhart went 2-for-3 with one triple and one run. That's the most hits Naour has posted over his last 12 matches. The team also got some help courtesy of Max Heineman, who went a perfect 2-for-2 with one RBI.

Normal Community pushed their record up to 15-4 with the win, which was their tenth straight at home. The home victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 11.3 runs over those games. As for Richwoods, this is the second loss in a row for them and nudges their season record down to 12-8.

Richwoods came up short against Normal Community in their previous matchup on Monday, falling 4-0. Will the Knights have more luck at home instead of on the road? Check MaxPreps after the match for a full breakdown of the game, commentary, and other baseball content.