The Bushnell-Prairie City High School baseball team opened its 2026 season Friday, dropping a 10-0, six-inning decision to host Illini West.
Originally scheduled to be played in La Harpe, the Prairieland Conference contest was moved to Carthage due to wet field conditions.
The Spartans were held to three hits, one each by Connor Palm, Thomas Anderson and Jadyn Robinson.
Anderson was also hit by a pitch and recorded a stolen base.
Palm was the pitcher of record for B-PC. He allowed seven earned runs on six hits with four walks in 3.1 innings.
Dylan King pitched two-plus innings for the Spartans. He allowed three earned runs on two hits. King struck out two, walked four and hit two batters.
The Chargers scored in five of the six innings they batted.
Illini West scored once in the first inning, twice in the second and once in the third to build a 4-0 lead.
The Chargers scored three times in the fourth inning before closing out the game by scoring three runs in the bottom of the sixth.
Cash Jones pitched four innings to pick up the win.
He allowed just one hit, one walk and one hit batter while striking out eight.
Jaxon Steinkamp pitched two innings, allowing two hits and two walks, striking out four.
Wesley Robertson recorded three runs batted in for Illini West. Aiden Hocker added two hits and two runs batted in, while Ethan Carlisle also knocked in two runs for the Chargers.
Eli Bisby doubled and scored three runs for Illini West, while Grady Blue also scored three runs.
The Spartans are slated to return to action Tuesday, hosting Ridgewood.
B-PC’s game at Mercer County that was slated for Mar. 19 was postponed due to wet field conditions in Aledo.
No makeup date has been announced.
