The last pitch for Bureau Valley, Princeton baseball and softball

The Chicago Bulls had their “Last Dance.”

The Bureau Valley Storm and Princeton Tigers will have their “Last Pitch.”

The Bureau County rivals will meet for the last scheduled time on the baseball and softball diamonds at Bureau Valley today. The Storm are departing the Three Rivers Conference next school year for the Lincoln Trail Conference and are not scheduled to play the Tigers in any sport for the foreseeable future.

Princeton owns the all-time series lead in both sports.

In baseball, the rival schools have met 43 times, according to available yearbook/BCR files, with the Tigers posting a 31-12 record. The Storm have won three out of the last five meetings, however.

The most memorable meeting was the 2009 regional championship game at Bureau Valley when the Storm’s John King hit a game-winning home run to beat the favored Tigers 7-6.

The Tigers are 3-1 in regional play against the Storm and 13-5 in Three Rivers matchups.

There have not been as many meetings in softball, with Princeton holding a 21-12 edge, including a 15-2 mark in Three Rivers play since joining the conference in 2014-15. The Tigresses have won four straight and 14 of the last 15 contests.

Storm softball does hold a 3-1 edge in regional play, the last meeting in 2011, winning 1-0.

The schools split their Monday meetings at Princeton, with the Storm rallying for a 9-7 win in baseball with six runs in the seventh inning. The Tigresses won 10-3 behind home runs by Keely Lawson and Avah Oertel.

The Bureau Valley baseball team stands 9-9 overall and 3-3 in the Three Rivers East after Wednesday’s 13-3 loss to Newman. Coach Ryan Schisler will send junior Bryce Helms to the mound today.

The Tigers evened their record to 6-6 with Tuesday’s 11-2 win over Monmouth-Roseville. They are 3-4 in conference play.

In softball, the Storm stand 11-6 and 4-2, and the Tigresses are 11-5 overall and 5-2 atop the Three Rivers East.