The Normal West Wildcats will head out on the road to square off against the Peoria Notre Dame Irish at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday. Expect the scorekeeper to be kept busy: if their previous games are any indication, these teams will really light up the scoreboard.
It was a proper cat-fight when Normal West challenged Urbana on Thursday. The Wildcats were the clear victors by a 20-8 margin over the Tigers. 20 seems to be a good number for the Wildcats as the squad scooped up a win with the same number of runs in their previous game.
The team relied heavily on McKinley Pate, who went a perfect 3-for-3 with four RBI, two runs, and two doubles. Those two doubles gave her a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Elsah Ganschow, who went a perfect 3-for-3 with two RBI, one run, and one double.
They weren't the only ones making solid contact: Normal West kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 18 hits. That's a new trend for them: they were averaging 5.4 hits per game earlier this season, but in their last 15 matchups they've averaged 11.2.
Meanwhile, Peoria Notre Dame got the win against Richwoods on Wednesday by a conclusive 15-7. The result was nothing new for the Irish, who have now won eight games by six runs or more so far this season.
Lexie Dallinger-Eaker and Elizabeth Leustek made a splash no matter where they played. Throwing, Dallinger-Eaker tossed four innings while giving up just two earned (and four unearned) runs off nine hits. Meanwhile, Leustek pitched three innings while giving up no earned runs off four hits. At bat, Dallinger-Eaker went 3-for-5 with one triple, two RBI, and one run, while Leustek went 3-for-4 with four RBI, two doubles, and one stolen base.
In other batting news, Peoria Notre Dame got a big performance out of Ella Tady, who went 1-for-5 with two runs, one stolen base, and two RBI. Mady Gibson was another key player, going 2-for-4 with one stolen base, two RBI, and one run.
The victory made it two in a row for Normal West and bumps their season record up to 11-16. The wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 20.0 runs over those games. As for Peoria Notre Dame, the victory got them back to even at 13-13.
Normal West beat Peoria Notre Dame 5-2 in their previous matchup back in April of 2024. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Wildcats since the team won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
