Illini Bluffs high school pitcher throws perfect game with all strikeouts

Perfection.

Illini Bluffs senior Josh Vaughn twirled a perfect game Friday night, striking out all 21 batters he faced in a 1-0 victory over Peoria Christian. The Bradley signee also put himself in the Illinois High School Association record books with the second-most consecutive strikeouts in state history.

“Just something you don’t get to see every day, right?” Illini Bluffs coach Troy Teel said. “He was just dealing. ... He just looked faster tonight. … He was making it really, really difficult.”

Peoria to Division I:Peoria has 6 Division-I bound baseball and softball players. Here's how they're playing in 2024

Vaughn threw 87 pitches — 67 for strikes — with Teel estimating Vaughn's pitches sitting around 89-91 mph, potentially hitting 92. The all-stater says his catcher Brendan Bacon jokingly called a "21-strikeout, perfect game."

The 6-foot-1 ace did the rest, mixing up his fastball with good command of his curveball to complete the perfect game — defined when no batter from the opposing team reaches base in any way.

“I’d say about the fifth, sixth inning,” Vaughn said, “I was kind of like, (adding) the numbers back in my head like how many strikeouts I had, so I was like, ‘OK, there’s a serious possibility here.’ ”

If throwing a near "immaculate" game wasn’t enough, Vaughn helped his cause in the opening IB at-bats. His single to right field from the three-hole set up the only run the Tigers needed. Vaughn was replaced by courtesy runner Cole McCoy, who stole second and third and then came home on an RBI single from cleanup hitter Will Giftos.

This is the fifth successive outing during which Vaughn finished with double-digit strikeouts. Last season, he struck out 20 batters in a 6-0 win over Brimfield/Elmwood. Also last season, he tossed a one-hitter with 17 strikeouts in IB's regional championship victory.

“I’ve never seen an outing quite like tonight,” Teel said. “… It was something I’m never going to forget. You’re probably not going to see that again.”

Josh Vaughn:Why Bradley baseball was the perfect fit for this small-school pitching ace

PCS, however, didn’t back down. The Chargers started bunting in the sixth inning, trying to break up the perfecto. But Vaughn battled until the very last batter, getting a final K on a full count to No. 3 hitter Gavin Walder.

“I’d say tonight definitely tops the Brimfield game,” Vaughn said. “… I’d say I was locked in today, more focused than normally because sometimes I’m like messing around and stuff.”

In the age of social media and once-in-a-lifetime sports moments like this going viral, Vaughn has already experienced some traction of his perfect performance.

“I’ve been seeing some stuff on Twitter pop up,” he said, “and it’s kind of getting out there, I’d say.”

Adam Duvall is a Journal Star sports reporter. Email him at aduvall@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @AdamDuvall.