Baseball Recap: Rich Township Gets the Win

Rich Township proved they can win big on Thursday (they won by 14) and on Monday they proved they can win the close ones too. They skirted past the Crete-Monee Warriors 7-5. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest victory the Raptors have posted against the Warriors since April 13, 2023.

Kobe Burnette made a big impact no matter where he played. He pitched 1.1 innings while giving up no earned runs or hits. He has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than two walks in 14 consecutive appearances. He was also big at the plate, going 1-for-3 with two RBI and one double.

In other pitching news, Rich Township got a great performance from Landon Hughes as he pitched 5.2 innings while giving up just two earned (and three unearned) runs off three hits. Hughes also tossed a walk, which is notable because the Raptors are 2-1 when he allows at most one walk, but 10-11 otherwise.

Brandon Bankhead

Runs

05/07/25 vs Thornton	3
04/21/25 @ Kankakee	3
04/14/25 vs Thornridge	3
05/12/25 vs Crete-Monee	2
04/24/25 @ Kankakee	2
+ 9 more games

Back at the plate, the team relied heavily on Brandon Bankhead, who got on base in all four of his plate appearances with two runs, one double, and one RBI. He has become a key player for Rich Township: the team is 7-1 when he posts at least two runs, but 5-11 otherwise.

Rich Township kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 11 hits. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now got at least nine hits in four consecutive matchups.

Rich Township is on a roll lately: they've won five of their last six contests. That's provided a massive bump to their 12-12 record this season. Those wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.8 runs on average over those games. As for Crete-Monee, with the defeat, they broke their four-game winning streak and moved their record to 16-11.

Rich Township will have a chance to go back-to-back against the Warriors: the pair's next game is a rematch scheduled at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday.