The Alton Redbirds will head out to take on the Belleville East Lancers at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Alton's pitching crew has only allowed 3.7 runs per game this season, so Belleville East's hitters will have their work cut out for them.
Alton is coming in fresh off a high-stakes matchup with another one of Illinois' top teams: O'Fallon, who was ranked sixth at the time (Alton was ranked 25th). The Redbirds came out on top in a nail-biter against the Panthers on Thursday, sneaking past 5-4.
Meanwhile, there's no place like home for Belleville East, who bounced back after a loss on the road on Friday. They were the clear victors by a 6-0 margin over Centralia on Monday. The Lancers might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won 14 contests by six runs or more this season.
Grady Davis was a major factor no matter where he played. He kept things locked down with no earned runs or hits while striking out eight over four innings pitched. He has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than one walk in five consecutive appearances. He was also big at the plate, going 2-for-4 with two stolen bases, one run, and one double. Those two stolen bases gave him a new career-high.
In other batting news, Belleville East let Nasir Fares and Reid Neumayer run wild. Fares went 2-for-3 with one home run, while Neumayer went 2-for-3 with one stolen base, two RBI, and one run.
Belleville East was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .417. They are a perfect 12-0 when they post a batting average of .375 or better.
Belleville East is on a roll lately: they've won 12 of their last 14 matches. That's provided a nice bump to their 15-5 record this season. The victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 10.7 runs over those games. As for Alton, their win was their fourth straight at home, which pushed their record up to 12-5.
Alton came up short against Belleville East when the teams last played back in April of 2024, falling 4-1. Can the Redbirds avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
