PEORIA — Opening day marked a fresh start in the grandstand and on the field for the Peoria Chiefs on Saturday at Dozer Park.
The St. Louis Cardinals High-A farm team dropped the opener, 6-2, to Quad Cities on Saturday afternoon in the front end of a doubleheader made necessary when rain postponed their scheduled opener Friday night for the first time in the 43-year history of the franchise.
But the 2025 opener represented a new chance for Chiefs center fielder Zach Levenson and for fans who have missed the game over the winter.
"I was putting it together here last season when I broke my hand," Levenson said. "It was a 96 mph fastball, and I forgot to get out of the way. It ended my season."
Levenson, an Orlando native, was a fifth-round pick by St. Louis in the 2023 MLB Draft after playing college ball at Miami. He opened his season at Peoria in 2024 with a 10-game hitting streak and went on to hit eight home runs in 70 games before his season-ending injury.
On opening day 2025, he was right back in center field at Dozer Park, ready to pick up where he left off.
When Quad Cities' Callan Moss sent a deep drive to left-center in the second inning, Levenson raced back to the track, wall, and crashed, unable to make the catch. But Moss was out at third trying to stretch the hit into a triple.
"I was thinking, 'Not again,' " Levenson joked. "But I should have caught it. This level is about production, though. It's about finding yourself, finding out who you are as a hitter and reaching your potential.
"The start of a new season, opening day, I know what I'm walking into here and it's a chance for a clean slate for everyone."
Opening day, fans, and nets
Up in the grandstand, Shawn Jason — a 40-year-old Chillicothe resident who works for the Chillicothe Park District — was sitting in the 51-degree first-pitch weather with his wife, Jenna, and sons Leo (10) and Oliver (9).
They are Cubs fans. But they wanted to be part of opening day in Peoria.
"I like the nets," said Jason, referring to the protective netting the Chiefs extended from home plate to outfield foul poles ...
