The Illinois Valley Central Grey Ghosts will head out on the road to take on the Peoria Notre Dame Irish at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday. The two teams are strolling into their contests after big wins in their previous games.
Peoria Notre Dame will be up against a hot Illinois Valley Central squad: the team just extended their winning streak to three. Everything went the Grey Ghosts' way against Bloomington Central Catholic on Wednesday as they made off with a 10-3 win. The Grey Ghosts might be getting used to big wins seeing as the team has won four matches by seven runs or more this season.
Max Gregory spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: he surrendered only one earned (and two unearned) runs on three hits and racked up eight Ks. He has been consistent recently: he hasn't tossed less than seven strikeouts in three consecutive appearances.
Griffen Landsverk
| 04/09/25 vs Bloomington Central Catholic | 2 |
| 03/29/25 vs Tolono Unity | 1 |
| 03/28/25 @ Tremont | 1 |
| 03/21/25 vs Pekin | 1 |
On the hitting side, the team relied heavily on Griffen Landsverk, who scored a run while going 3-for-4. The dominant performance also gave him a new career-high in doubles (two). Another player making a difference was Brynden Coventry, who went 1-for-3 with one triple, two RBI, and one run.
Meanwhile, Peoria Notre Dame played in-conference for the first time on Wednesday and got just the result they were looking for. They blew past Centennial 11-1. The victory continues a trend for the Irish in their matchups with the Chargers: they've now won four in a row.
Peoria Notre Dame also let their pitcher toss all six innings played and he was also dialed-in: Ben Geers gave up only one earned run on five hits and racked up six Ks.
At the plate, Joe Culp was incredible, scoring two runs and stealing two bases while getting on base in three of his four plate appearances. Those stolen bases were his first of the season. Brendan Krider was another key player, scoring two runs and stealing a base while going 2-for-3.
Peoria Notre Dame kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 11 hits. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Centennial only managed five hits.
Illinois Valley Central's win was their third straight at home, which pushed their record up to 7-4. Those home victories came thanks in part to their hitting performance across that stretch, as they averaged 8.0 runs over those games. As for Peoria Notre Dame, they now have a winning record of 6-5.
