The Pekin Dragons are taking a road trip to take on the Peoria Notre Dame Irish at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday. Peoria Notre Dame took a loss in their last match and will be looking to turn the tables on Pekin, who comes in off a win.
Pekin was handed a 17-run defeat in their previous outing, but that didn't affect their clutch gene on Tuesday. They had just enough and edged out Bartlett 7-5. With that win, the Dragons brought their scoring average up to 6.1 runs per game.
Brandon Barrientos and Mason Hanvey made a splash while hitting and pitching. On the mound, Barrientos tossed two innings while giving up no earned runs off one hit. Meanwhile, Hanvey didn't allow a single earned run and allowed only two hits over four innings pitched. At the plate, Barrientos scored two runs and stole two bases while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances, while Hanvey went 1-for-4 with one home run, three RBI, and two runs.
In other batting news, Gabe Schwermin was excellent, scoring two runs while going 2-for-3. Steve Anthony also deserves some recognition as he brought in his first RBI of the season.
Meanwhile, Peoria Notre Dame came up short against Tremont on Tuesday, falling 12-2. The Irish haven't had much luck with the Turks recently, as the team has come up short the last five times they've met.
Peoria Notre Dame's loss dropped their record down to 4-3. As for Pekin, they have been performing well recently as they've won three of their last four games. That's provided a nice bump to their 5-3 record this season.
Fans could be in store for some top-tier slugging on Thursday. Pekin hasn't had any problems when it comes to power this season, having averaged 0.5 home runs per game. However, it's not like Peoria Notre Dame struggles in that department as they've been averaging 0.4 home runs. With so much power on both teams, it'll be down to the pitchers to keep the mound locked down.
Pekin might still be hurting after the 15-4 defeat they got from Peoria Notre Dame when the teams last played back in April of 2024. Can the Dragons avenge their loss or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
