The Iroquois West Raiders will head out to challenge the Donovan Wildcats at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday.
On Monday, Iroquois West came up short against Bismarck-Henning/Rossville-Alvin and fell 8-3. The loss continues a trend for the Raiders in their meetings with the Blue Devils: they've now lost five in a row.
Autumn Miller spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered four earned (and four unearned) runs on nine hits and racked up six Ks.
At the plate, Iroquois West saw four different players step up and record at least one hit. One of them was Leah Honeycutt, who went 2-for-3 with two runs.
Meanwhile, Donovan waltzed into their matchup on Thursday with three straight wins... but they left with four. They blew past the Momence Athletics 15-4.
Laylah Lou Walters made a splash no matter where she played. She looked comfortable on the mound, not allowing a single earned run over six innings pitched. She has been nothing but reliable: she hasn't given up more than one earned run in six consecutive appearances. She was also stellar in the batter's box, going 3-for-4 with two runs, one stolen base, and one double. That's the most hits she has posted since back in March of 2024.
In other batting news, Bailey Henneike was a standout: she went 2-for-4 with one home run, three RBI, and two runs. Those three RBI gave her a new career-high. The team also got some help courtesy of Lily Anderson, who went 2-for-4 with three runs, one stolen base, and two RBI.
Donovan always had someone on base and finished the game having posted an OBP of .513. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Momence only posted an OBP of .296.
Donovan pushed their record up to 6-8 with the win, which was their third straight at home. The home victories came thanks in part to their pitching effort, having only surrendered 2.0 runs on average over those games. As for Iroquois West, their defeat dropped their record down to 6-10.
Iroquois West skirted past Donovan 8-6 in their previous matchup back in April of 2024. The rematch might be a little tougher for the Raiders since the squad won't have the home-field advantage this time around. We'll see if the change in venue makes a difference.
