EAST PEORIA, Illinois—The Prairie Fire baseball team concluded their season on a high note on Tuesday night with a 10-0 victory over Robert Morris-Peoria.
Knox (17-17) banged out 18 total hits and allowed only six in the shutout. The Prairie Fire took the lead in the third inning with two runs and then added a single run in the sixth. The bats came alive in the eighth and ninth innings, adding on seven more runs to seal the win.
Matt McCaffrey (Wilmette, IL, New Trier),
Juston Woodard (Oak Lawn, IL, Mount Carmel), and
Brendan Powers (Bourbonnais, IL, Bradley-Bourbonnais) all had three base knocks.
Ryan Weitendorf (New Lenox, IL, Lincoln-Way East),
Alex Bell (Elgin, IL, Burlington Central), and
Drake Sykes (Galesburg, IL, Galesburg) added two hits apiece. Weitendorf drove in three runs to become the all-time leader at Knox with 112 RBI. Woodard and Bell each added two RBI. Drake Sykes stole two bases to set the Knox career record with 48 stolen bases. The 18 hits for the team pushed them past the single season record for hits (370) and total bases (509). 10 stolen bases also helped the team reach the single season record with 79 total stolen bases.
Zach Nitzel (Moline, IL, Moline) earned his first win of the season with four scoreless innings.
Kyle Yang (Indian Head Park, IL, Lyons Township),
Larry Murray (Dardenne Prairie, MO, Fort Zumwalt West), and
Jack Barreca (Grayslake, IL, Grayslake North) also pitched to combine for the shutout.
