Baseball Recap: Make It 15 in a Row for Normal Community

Ironmen

Previous Games

05/17/25 vs East Peoria	1-0
05/14/25 @ Bloomington	10-0
05/12/25 vs Bloomington	4-2
05/10/25 @ East Moline United	10-3
05/09/25 @ Peoria	11-1
+ 10 more games

Normal Community extended their winning streak to 15 on Saturday, bumping their season record up to 29-4 in the process. Their pitchers stepped up to hand the East Peoria Raiders a 1-0 shutout. That result was just more of the same for these two, as the Ironmen also won the last time the pair played back in April of 2023.

Normal Community got a great performance from Luke Klunke as he didn't allow a single earned run while striking out six over 6.2 innings pitched. That's the most strikeouts Klunke has posted since back in April.

At the plate, Normal Community's victory was truly a team effort as five different players contributed at least one hit. One of them was Gavin Michaels, who went 1-for-3 with three stolen bases. That's the most stolen bases Michaels has posted since back in April.

As for East Peoria, they moved to 22-8 with that defeat, which also ended their five-game winning streak. Having soared to a lofty 13 runs in the game before, their shutout was a dramatic turnaround.

On East Peoria's side, not much got past R.J. Duncheon, who gave up just two hits to keep Normal Community off the board. Duncheon has been nothing but reliable on the mound: he hasn't given up more than one earned run in nine consecutive appearances.

Normal Community and East Peoria should be looking forward to their upcoming games as both have a sizable advantage in the MaxPreps Illinois Rankings. The Ironmen (ranked 17th) will meet Mahomet-Seymour (ranked 91st) at 4:30 p.m. on Monday. Both teams are headed into the matchup with plenty of momentum (Normal Community has won 16 straight at home, while the Bulldogs won seven straight on the road), something that'll have to change. Meanwhile, East Peoria will face off against Pekin at 7:00 p.m. on Monday with a big rank advantage (30 vs. 358).