East Peoria is 0-4 against Normal Community since March of 2016 but things could change on Saturday. The Raiders will head out on the road to square off against the Ironmen at 10:00 a.m. Each of these teams will be fighting to keep a win streak alive as East Peoria comes in on five and Normal Community on 14.
East Peoria had to skate by with only a one-run margin when they last took the field, which might have inspired the 12-run drubbing they dealt Streator on Friday. The Raiders put the hurt on the Bulldogs with a sharp 13-1 win. The Raiders might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won nine games by six runs or more this season.
Jordan Marsh made a splash no matter where he played. He looked comfortable on the mound, not allowing a single earned run over five innings pitched. The dominant performance also gave him a new career-high in strikeouts (five). He was also solid in the batter's box, going 1-for-3 with one run, one double, and one RBI. That run marked the first that he has scored this season.
Jackson Ahrens
| 05/16/25 @ Streator | 3 |
| 05/12/25 @ Metamora | 2 |
| 05/09/25 vs LaSalle-Peru | 2 |
| 05/07/25 @ Morton | 2 |
| 05/02/25 vs Peoria Christian | 2 |
In other batting news, East Peoria got a massive performance out of Jackson Ahrens, who went 3-for-5 with one home run, four RBI, and two doubles. Those three hits gave Ahrens a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Zach Haahn, who went 3-for-4 with one home run and two RBI.
East Peoria was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .429. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Streator only posted a batting average of .261.
Bloomington typically has all the answers at home, but on Wednesday Normal Community proved too difficult a challenge. Their pitchers stepped up to hand the Purple Raiders a 10-0 shutout. The result was nothing new for the Ironmen, who have now won 15 matchups by six runs or more so far this season.
Jonah Roper tossed a big game, not allowing a single earned run and allowing only two hits while striking out seven over five innings pitched. He has been consistent for a while: he hasn't given up more than two hits in nine consecutive appearances.
On the hitting side, Drew Stevens was incredible, going 2-for-4 with two runs, two RBI, and one double. Max Heineman was another key player, going 2-for-3 with three runs and one RBI.
Normal Community pushed their record up to 28-4 with the victory, which was their seventh straight on the road. The road wins came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 0.9 runs on average over those games. As for East Peoria, their record is now 22-7.
