Illinois Valley Pistol Shrimp drop season opener

The Illinois Valley Pistol Shrimp grabbed an early lead with two runs in the top of the first inning Wednesday but couldn’t maintain it in an 8-4 loss to the Danville Dans in the season opener in Danville.

Hall graduate Chance Resetich drew a walk to lead off the game and advanced to second on a wild pitch before Ottawa alumnus Evan Evola singled.

Resetich scored on a passed ball, and Evola came in on a groundout by Damen Castillo to give the Shrimp a 2-0 lead.

The Dans cut the deficit in half with a run in the bottom of the first, but the Shrimp again went up by two with a run in the fourth.

Ivan Witt led off the fourth by reaching and advancing to second on an error before moving to third on a wild pitch and scoring on another wild pitch.

The Dans took their first lead with three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning before tacking on three insurance runs in the eighth.

The Shrimp scored once in the top of the ninth on an RBI double by Isaiah Hart that scored Christion Cleary.

The Shrimp finished with four hits with one each from Hart, Resetich, Evola and Luke Adams.

Tyler Conklin took the loss for the Shrimp, allowing five runs (five earned) on seven hits with four strikeouts and two walks in 5 1/3 innings.

Preston Kaufman allowed two earned runs in two-thirds of an inning, while Eben Heine gave up one earned run on no hits with two strikeouts and three walks in two innings.

MLB prospect Noah Schultz to start home opener for Shrimp

Noah Schultz, a 2022 Oswego East graduate, has joined the Shrimp and will start the team’s home opener Thursday against the Terre Haute Rex at Veterans Park in Peru.

Schultz is a 6-foot-9 left-handed pitcher who is signed to play at Vanderbilt.

Schultz, who missed a significant portion of his senior season this spring due to mononucleosis, throws a fastball that tops out around 96 mph.

He has been projected by multiple publications to go in the first few rounds of the MLB draft in July.