Baseball Game Preview: Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley Falcons vs. Paxton-Buckley-Loda Panthers

The Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley Falcons will head out to square off against the Paxton-Buckley-Loda Panthers at 4:30 p.m. on Monday. Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley is strutting in with some hitting muscle as they've averaged 6.8 runs per game this season.

Herscher hit Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley with a six-run sixth inning on Friday, which goes a long way in explaining the final result. The Falcons fell 11-6 to the Tigers. The Falcons' defeat signaled the end of their three-game winning streak.

Trent Wethererll and Graydon Leonard stepped up to the plate in a big way. Wethererll went 1-for-3 with two RBI, one run, and one double, while Leonard went 1-for-4 with one stolen base, two RBI, and one run.

Meanwhile, Paxton-Buckley-Loda fell victim to Illinois Valley Central and their airtight pitching crew on Saturday. They fell just short of the Grey Ghosts by a score of 1-0.

Tyler Cole spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered only one earned run on two hits. He is becoming a predictor of Paxton-Buckley-Loda's success: when he allows at most one earned run the team is 5-2 (and 7-9 when he doesn't).

On the hitting side, Paxton-Buckley-Loda saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Kayden Vance, who went 1-for-2 with one stolen base.

Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley's loss dropped their record down to 12-10. As for Paxton-Buckley-Loda, they have been struggling recently as they've lost four of their last five matchups. That's put a noticeable dent in their 12-11 record this season.