Softball Game Preview: Grayslake North Knights vs. Harvard Hornets

The Grayslake North Knights will face off against the Harvard Hornets at 4:45 p.m. on Monday. Grayslake North is coming into the matchup hot, having won their last seven games.

Grayslake North's pitching crew heads into the contest hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Saturday. They were the clear victors by a 15-0 margin over Lake Forest. Considering the Knights have won eight games by more than eight runs this season, Saturday's blowout was nothing new.

Riley O'Brien

Runs Batted In (Career)

04/19/25 @ Lake Forest	2
04/15/25 vs Wauconda	1
04/11/25 @ Zion-Benton	1
04/08/25 vs Grayslake Central	1
03/27/25 vs Olentangy Orange	1

Riley O'Brien made a splash while hitting and pitching. She struck out six batters over three innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. She has been consistent: she hasn't given up more than one earned run in five consecutive appearances. She was also solid in the batter's box, going 1-for-2 with two RBI. Those two RBI gave her a new career-high.

In other batting news, Brena Dalton and Lauren Gaeding did most of the damage at the plate: Dalton went a perfect 2-for-2 with three runs, one triple, and two RBI, while Gaeding went 2-for-3 with three runs, one triple, and one RBI. That triple marked the first that Gaeding has hit this season. Another player making a difference was Jane Pritchard, who went 1-for-2 with two runs and two RBI.

Grayslake North was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .400. That was just more of the same: they've now posted a batting average of .387 or higher in seven consecutive matches.

Meanwhile, Harvard made easy work of Oswego East on Saturday and carried off a 10-2 victory.

Grayslake North pushed their record up to 11-3 with the win, which was their fifth straight on the road. The road victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.2 runs on average over those games. As for Harvard, the win got them back to even at 6-6.

Grayslake North might still be hurting after the 16-10 defeat they got from Harvard in their previous matchup back in April of 2024. Will the Knights have more luck at home instead of on the road? Come back here after the game to get an analysis of the match and other softball content.