Baseball Game Preview: Mendota Trojans vs. Illinois Valley Central Grey Ghosts

The Mendota Trojans are taking a road trip to square off against the Illinois Valley Central Grey Ghosts at 4:30 p.m. on Friday. The teams are rolling into the game with opposing streaks: Mendota has struggled recently with three losses in a row, while Illinois Valley Central will arrive with seven straight victories.

Sandwich hit Mendota with a four-run seventh inning on Tuesday, which goes a long way in explaining the final result. The Trojans came up short against the Indians, falling 10-4.

Illinois Valley Central came out on top against Metamora on Thursday thanks in part to the team's impressive four-run fourth inning. The Grey Ghosts had just enough and edged out the Redbirds 8-7.

Keegan Schol was a major factor while hitting and pitching. He looked comfortable on the mound, striking out seven batters over three innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit (and not a single walk). Schol was also solid in the batter's box, going 2-for-4 with four RBI and one double. Those four RBI gave him a new career-high.

In other batting news, Grant Bramer was a standout: he got on base in all four of his plate appearances with two RBI and one run. Those two RBI gave him a new career-high. Tom Davis also deserves some recognition as he snagged his first stolen base of the season.

Illinois Valley Central 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 eight hits in three consecutive matches.

Illinois Valley Central pushed their record up to 20-10 with the win, which was their fourth straight on the road. The road victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 9.0 runs over those games. As for Mendota, their defeat dropped their record down to 8-16-1.

Mendota suffered a grim 12-2 defeat to Illinois Valley Central when the teams last played back in March of 2019. Can the Trojans avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.