Baseball Game Preview: Kankakee Kays vs. Rich Township Raptors

Kankakee has gone a perfect 10-0 against Rich Township recently and they'll look to pad the win column further on Monday. The Kays will be playing at home against the Raptors at 4:30 p.m. Kankakee will aim to continue their three-game streak of scoring more runs each matchup than the last.

Thornwood hit Kankakee with a six-run fourth inning on Thursday, which goes a long way in explaining the final result. The Kays took a 9-6 hit to the loss column at the hands of the Thunderbirds. The Kays have struggled against the Thunderbirds recently, as the game was their third consecutive lost meeting.

Bryce Deany

Runs

04/17/25 vs Thornwood	2
04/01/25 vs Thornton	2
03/26/25 vs Thornton	2
04/10/25 @ Crete-Monee	1
03/29/25 @ Manteno	1

Kankakee saw six different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Bryce Deany, who went 1-for-2 with two runs and one RBI. Deany has become a key player for the Kays: the team is 2-1 when he posts at least two runs, but 1-9 otherwise. Another was Bryce Arseneaux, who went a perfect 1-for-1 with one run and one double.

Meanwhile, while Rich Township put up plenty of runs on Thursday, the same can't be said for Thornridge. The Raptors blew past the Falcons 13-0. Considering the Raptors have won five games by more than five runs this season, Thursday's blowout was nothing new.

Rich Township has been performing well recently as they've won four of their last five contests. That's provided a massive bump to their 5-8 record this season. Those wins came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 12.6 runs over those games. As for Kankakee, their loss dropped their record down to 3-10.

The batters for both teams will have to hit smart on Monday as both have some strikeout artists on the roster. Kankakee has been retiring batters left and right this season, having averaged 6.8 strikeouts per game. However, it's not like Rich Township struggles in that department as they've been averaging 7.5 strikeouts. Considering how easily both teams rack up Ks, the hitters on both teams better bring their A-game into this one.

Kankakee came out on top in a nail-biter against Rich Township in their previous matchup back in April of 2024, sneaking past 7-6. Will the Kays repeat their success, or do the Raptors have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.