The Peoria Notre Dame Irish will square off against the Canton Little Giants at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday. The two teams are strolling into their matchups after big wins in their previous games.
Peoria Notre Dame made up a huge gap compared to their last game against Eureka, but they still couldn't quite topple them. The Irish put the hurt on the Hornets with a sharp 11-3 victory on Tuesday. That looming 11-3 mark stands out as the most commanding margin for the Irish yet this season.
Lexie Dallinger-Eaker spent all seven innings on the mound, and it's clear why: she surrendered just two earned (and one unearned) runs on nine hits and racked up eight Ks. Those eight strikeouts set a new season-high mark for her.
Lauren Leustek
| 04/01/25 vs Eureka | 4 |
| 03/24/25 vs Brimfield | 3 |
| 05/11/24 vs Danville | 3 |
| 05/13/24 vs Eureka | 2 |
| 05/09/24 vs Richwoods | 2 |
At the plate, Lauren Leustek was incredible, scoring three runs and stealing a base while going 4-for-4. Those four hits gave her a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Ella Tady, who went 2-for-4 with four RBI and one double.
Leustek wasn't the only one working in the hit department: Peoria Notre Dame kept the outfield on their toes and finished the game with 12 hits. That strong performance was nothing new for the team: they've now got at least eight hits in three consecutive games.
Meanwhile, Canton waltzed into their contest on Monday with four straight wins... but they left with five. They were the clear victors by a 17-4 margin over the Hornets. While the Little Giants didn't have the best season last year (they finished 7-18), it's starting to look like those struggles are a thing of the past.
The team relied heavily on Makaylynne Correa, who went 4-for-5 with one home run, seven RBI, and three runs. The team also got some help courtesy of Natalie Downing, who scored four runs and stole a base while going 3-for-4.
Canton's win bumped their record up to 5-1. As for Peoria Notre Dame, the victory got them back to even at 3-3.
Peoria Notre Dame was able to grind out a solid win over Canton when the teams last played back in March of 2019, winning 6-2. Will the Irish repeat their success, or do the Little Giants have a new game plan this time around? We'll find out soon enough.
