Softball Game Preview: Illinois Valley Central Grey Ghosts vs. Eureka Hornets

vs

Previous Games

05/14/24 - Home	12-3 W
05/09/24 - Away	13-5 W
05/11/23 - Home	13-5 W
05/17/22 - Home	7-0 W
05/09/19 - Home	0-2 L
+ 5 more games

Illinois Valley Central and Eureka are an even 5-5 against one another since April of 2015, but likely not for long. The Grey Ghosts will welcome the Hornets at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday. Illinois Valley Central is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 7.1 runs per game this season.

Having struggled with three defeats in a row, Illinois Valley Central turned things around against Deer Creek-Mackinaw on Wednesday. They came out on top against the Chiefs by a score of 7-2.

Emersyn Fleming looked comfortable as she pitched four innings while giving up just one earned run off two hits.

At the plate, the team relied heavily on Joharah Boze, who went a perfect 3-for-3 with two runs, one double, and one RBI. Taylor Zannacker was another key player, going 1-for-3 with two runs and one RBI.

Meanwhile, Eureka got the win against Clinton on Wednesday by a conclusive 14-2.

Eureka's victory was their sixth straight on the road, which pushed their record up to 13-14. Those road wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 0.8 runs on average over those games. As for Illinois Valley Central, their victory bumped their record up to 16-13.

Illinois Valley Central took their win against Eureka in their previous matchup back in May of 2024 by a conclusive 12-3 score. Will the Grey Ghosts repeat their success, or do the Hornets have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.