Thanks to the wicked weather that’s hit Kankakee County in recent weeks, the Bradley-Bourbonnais baseball team had to wait until after its four-game trip to the Metro East Kickoff Classic in Edwardsville.

Although Kankakee was the home team when the All-City foes met at Bradley’s 315 Sports Park, the Boilermakers’ new home and also the Kays’ 2026 home after said wicked weather, the Boilers wasted little time getting acquainted with their new park.

They muscled 13 hits, drew a dozen walks, four hit by pitches and took advantage of six Kankakee errors for a football-like 28-0 win in 2½ innings.

After losing those first four games by a combined seven runs, Boilers coach Brad Schweigert said it was nice to just come back and play some winning baseball back in town.

“We had four great games and could have very well left [Edwardsville] 4-0, but we came back 0-4,” Schweigert said. “We were right in every single game, there was basically one inning pitching we wanted back or one inning defensively we wanted back in each of those games and we probably win them. It was just good to get a game like this where the bats come alive, and it feels good to get a win under our belts.”

The Boilers tallied 18 runs in the first inning and had 10 more in the top of the second before they had three straight batters ruled out for making contact while outside the batters box to end the damage. Rather than a top of the third, the game ended with the bottom of second rolling into the bottom of the third, finishing via the 20-run rule after three innings.

Playing their fourth game in five days and another on the docket against Bishop McNamara Saturday, the Kays (0-5) knew they were more-than-light on arms for Friday. And after storm damage deemed their field unplayable and took away more than a week of preseason practices from a roster full of underclassmen, the Kays are learning on the fly and re-adjusting to their temporary home at 315 Sports Park this spring.

“At the beginning of the year we knew we have a lot of young guys and some good senior leadership,” Kays coach Nick Crowe said. “But half our roster is really young guys and there are going to be hiccups along the way, learning curves along the way. But we’re going to keep rolling with it, pushing them to develop and pushing them to compete every day.”

Jace Boudreau led the Boilers with a double, a triple, a walk, five RBIs and three runs. Eric Rainbolt also tripled, walked twice, drove in four and scored three runs. Ellis Johnson and Keaton Allison each doubled and scored three times, with Allison driving in a run and Johnson two.

Jack Kanoski threw the first inning, striking out a pair in a perfect frame before giving way to Quade Sadler, who struck out three and walked two while recording the last six outs without yielding a hit.

For Kanoski, who will go down as the first Boiler to throw a pitch at their new facility – albeit as a visitor on Friday – the opportunity to be a member of the first team at the new park is a blessing.

“It’s awesome,” Kanoski said. “This turf field is amazing and I’m really glad we have the opportunity to play here. The whole experience is awesome: the sound effects, the scoreboard, everything we didn’t use to have.”

Both teams will return to 315 Sports Park on Saturday to finish the All-City season. Defending All-City champion Bishop McNamara will play both teams, beginning with Kankakee at 12 p.m. and then Bradley-Bourbonnais at 3 p.m.