The Eureka Hornets will square off against the Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley Falcons at 4:30 p.m. on Monday. Eureka's pitching crew has only allowed three runs per game this season, so Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley's hitters will have their work cut out for them.
On Saturday, Eureka was able to grind out a solid victory over Rochester, taking the game 6-1.
Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley). They put the hurt on Fieldcrest with a sharp 16-5 win on Friday. The result was nothing new for the Falcons, who have now won eight matchups by seven runs or more so far this season.
Graydon Leonard made a splash while hitting and pitching. He looked comfortable on the mound, striking out eight batters over six innings while giving up just two earned (and one unearned) runs off two hits. That's the most strikeouts he has posted since back in March. He was also big at the plate, going 2-for-5 with three RBI, two runs, and one triple. He is becoming a predictor of Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley's success: when he posts at least two runs the team is undefeated (and 5-7 when he doesn't).
In other batting news, David Hull was a standout: he went 3-for-4 with two stolen bases, three runs, and two RBI. He has become a key player for Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley: the team is undefeated when he posts at least three hits, but 5-7 otherwise. Another player making a difference was Trent Wethererll, who went 3-for-5 with four runs, one stolen base, and two RBI.
Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley was getting hits left and right and finished the game having posted a batting average of .436. They are a perfect 7-0 when they post a batting average of .375 or better.
Eureka is on a roll lately: they've won 13 of their last 14 contests. That's provided a nice bump to their 20-2 record this season. The victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.4 runs on average over those games. As for Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley, their win bumped their record up to 9-7.
Eureka couldn't quite get it done against Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley in their previous matchup back in April of 2024 as they fell 7-3. Will the Hornets have more luck at home instead of on the road? Come back here after the game to get an analysis of the match and other baseball content.
