The Litchfield Purple Panthers will head out to square off against the Taylorville Tornadoes at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Litchfield will be looking to extend their current four-game winning streak.
Litchfield's pitching crew heads into the matchup hoping to repeat the dominance they displayed on Saturday. They blew past Springfield 9-0. Considering the Purple Panthers have won three contests by more than seven runs this season, Saturday's blowout was nothing new.
Max Leitschuh made a splash no matter where he played. He didn't allow a single earned run while striking out six over seven innings pitched. He has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up a single earned run in three consecutive appearances. He was also stellar in the batter's box, going 3-for-4 with four RBI, one triple, and one run.
Mathew Bywater
| 03/22/25 vs Springfield | 3 |
| 03/21/25 vs Mt. Pulaski | 1 |
| 03/20/25 @ Southwestern | 1 |
| 03/19/25 vs Lebanon | 2 |
| 03/17/25 @ PORTA/Ashland-Chandlerville Central | 1 |
| + 8 more games |
In other batting news, Mathew Bywater was incredible, scoring three runs and stealing four bases while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances. That's the most runs he has posted since back in May of 2024. Laidyn Jones was another key player, scoring a run while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances.
Meanwhile, Taylorville hadn't done well against Nokomis recently (they were 1-7 in their previous eight matchups), but they didn't let the past get in their way on Friday. Taylorville was the clear victor by a 12-3 margin over Nokomis. The win made it back-to-back victories for the Tornadoes.
Like Litchfield, Taylorville also got a great game from a two-way player: Baron Odam. He looked comfortable on the mound, tossing 3.1 innings while giving up no earned runs off three hits. Odam was even better at the plate, scoring a run and stealing a base while going 3-for-5.
In other batting news, the team relied heavily on Maxx Grieme, who scored a run while getting on base in four of his five plate appearances. The team also got some help courtesy of Colton Gatton, who scored three runs while getting on base in four of his five plate appearances.
Litchfield's win was their ninth straight at home dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 4-1. Those victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 0.8 runs on average over those games. As for Taylorville, their record now sits at 2-0.
Litchfield took their win against Taylorville when the teams last played back in March of 2024 by a conclusive 16-1. The rematch might be a little tougher for Litchfield since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
