The Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley Falcons will take on the Deer Creek-Mackinaw Chiefs at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday. Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 7.9 runs per game this season.
Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley's pitching crew heads into the matchup hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Monday. They were the clear victors by a 10-0 margin over El Paso-Gridley. The high-flying hitting performance was a huge turnaround for the Falcons considering their one-run performance the game before.
Brayden Elliott
| 03/17/25 @ Champaign Central | 7 |
| 04/07/25 @ Heyworth | 4 |
Brayden Elliott made a big impact while hitting and pitching. He looked comfortable on the mound, not allowing a single earned run while striking out nine over five innings pitched. He also tossed no earned runs, which is notable because Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley is undefeated when he allows at most one earned run, but 3-4 otherwise. Elliott was also solid in the batter's box, scoring three runs while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances.
In other batting news, Trent Wethererll and Parker Baillie did most of the damage at the plate: Wethererll scored a run while going 2-for-3, while Baillie went 2-for-3 with two runs, one triple, and one double. That triple marked the first that Baillie hit this season. Conner Kinzinger was another key player, going 2-for-3 with two doubles and two RBI.
Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .462. They are a perfect 5-0 when they post a batting average of .375 or better.
Meanwhile, Deer Creek-Mackinaw suffered their closest loss since March 26th on Tuesday. They fell just short of Limestone by a score of 6-4.
Deer Creek-Mackinaw also got a good showing from Keagan Brown, who pitched two innings while giving up no earned runs off three hits. Brown has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than one earned run in three consecutive appearances.
On the hitting side, Chuck Hathaway was cooking despite his team's loss, scoring a run while going 1-for-3. Another player making a difference was Parker Eggenberger, who scored a run while going 1-for-3.
Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley's win bumped their record up to 6-4. As for Deer Creek-Mackinaw, they now have a losing record of 6-7.
The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Wednesday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 7.9 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Deer Creek-Mackinaw struggles in that department as they've been averaging an even more impressive 8.2 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.
Everything went Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley's way against Deer Creek-Mackinaw in their previous meeting back in May of 2024, as Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley made off with a 10-1 victory. Do the Falcons have another victory up their sleeve, or will the Chiefs turn the tables on them? We'll have the answer soon enough.
