Blue Devils drop season opener against Oakwood, walk off Paris in 10th

By Editor | March 25, 2025 |

By Bryan Hosler

The 2025 Villa Grove baseball team looks to improve upon their 11-11 record from last year, losing two seniors from last year including 1st team Lincoln Prairie All-Conference selection Brady Clodfelder, and Parker Knierim, respectively. Both were also part of their pitching rotation.

Coach Heath Wilson has starters from every class in his starting lineup including seniors Cooper Clark and Noah Wilcoxon. Clark will pitch and man the shortstop position while Wilcoxon will play either right or center field.

Junior starters are Jackson Gilles at second base, Thomas Vandeventer at first, and Zane Hosler in left field. Hosler will be part of the starting rotation with Gilles also being used out of the bullpen.

The sophomores are Jackson and Jesse Gire. Jesse will be the main catcher while Jackson will play infield, outfield and pitching.

A talented freshman class has Max Wilson and Gavin Taylor getting plenty of playing time. Wilson will be part of the rotation, plus playing outfield and some first base. Taylor will play third base, outfield and some pitching appearances.

Devils drop opener

The Blue Devils opened their year by hosting Oakwood in a 3-2 defeat. Runs were hard to come by as pitching on both sides were strong. Clark started on the bump for Villa Grove and held the Comets in check through two innings. However, in the third, Oakwood broke through with two runs to take an early lead.

Wilson came into pitch in the fourth and set down the visitors in order. The fifth started with an easy out then Wilson loaded the bases. Vandeventer then caught a liner to start an unassisted double play to keep the score at 2-0.

Jesse Gire singled to start the fifth and was on third when a balk allowed him to score the Devils first run. Another run scoring double by Oakwood extended the lead to 3-1 going into the bottom of the seventh.

That’s when Villa Grove put two runners on with a Taylor single and Jackson Gire getting hit by a pitch. An error by Oakwood’s second baseman allowed Villa Grove to pull within 3-2. With two outs and two on, the Devils were unable to tie the game and lost, 3-2.

Vandeventer, Taylor and Jesse Gire had one hit each while Clark took the loss with two earned runs in three innings.

Blue Devils walk off Paris

Once again both pitching staffs were stingy as the Blue Devils opened up the scoring with three runs in the first. Hosler drew a walk with the bases loaded and Jesse Gire followed that up with a two-run single.

The Devils followed that up with another score in the second frame with Jackson Gire singling in Gilles for a 3-0 lead.

Wilson started for the Blue Devils and ran into trouble in the third. Four hits, a walk and an error by Vandeventer lead to four earned runs and a tie score. Clark came in to get the last two outs and stop Paris from any more runs.

Clark held Paris scoreless for three and a third innings by allowing one hit and two walks. The Blue Devils had bases loaded in the bottom of the sixth but an infield fly led directly to two outs and the inning over with no runs.

Hosler came in to relieve Clark as the Blue Devils offense needed to score one to end the game. However, one inning turned into four, and with the sun setting the pitchers were holding the offenses in check. Finally in the bottom of the tenth, Jackson Gire walked and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Then, Vandeventer ended the game with hard single that snuck by the shortstop and Jackson Gire came into score to give the Devils a hard-earned 5-4 victory.

Hosler earned the win by going four and a third innings. He gave up just two hits and struck out five. Both Gire’s and Vandeventer had two hits each to lead Villa Grove.

This week the Devils host Rantoul on Monday and Armstrong on Thursday. They also travel to Tuscola on Wednesday.

Posted in Sports - TCC