Baseball Recap: Hoopeston Find Success

Hoopeston's game last Monday was a loss, but they didn't let that memory haunt them on Tuesday. They sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 10-8 victory over the Prairie Central Hawks. For those keeping track at home, that's the closest win the Cornjerkers have posted since March 18th.

Dylan Judy

Runs

03/31/25 @ Fisher	3
04/15/25 vs Prairie Central	2
04/11/25 vs Georgetown-Ridge Farm/Chrisman	2
04/10/25 vs Paxton-Buckley-Loda	2
03/27/25 vs Rantoul	2
+ 4 more games

Dylan Judy made a splash while hitting and pitching. On the mound, he struck out eight batters over five innings while giving up three earned runs off six hits. He has been nothing but reliable: he hasn't tossed less than five strikeouts in four consecutive appearances. He was also big at the plate, scoring two runs and stealing a base while going 2-for-4. He is becoming a predictor of Hoopeston's success: when he posts at least two runs the team is 4-1 (and 1-10 when he doesn't).

In other batting news, Reydon Montez was incredible, going 2-for-4 with one home run, two runs, and two RBI. Those two RBI gave him a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Zach Huchel, who scored two runs while getting on base in all four of his plate appearances.

Hoopeston kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 13 hits. That's a new trend for them: they were averaging 4.8 hits per game earlier this season, but in their last 15 matches they've averaged 9.2.

Hoopeston's record now sits at 5-11. As for Prairie Central, their loss was their fourth straight on the road, which dropped their record down to 4-11.

Looking ahead, Hoopeston will host Bismarck-Henning at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday. As for Prairie Central, they will head out to face off against Rantoul at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday.