Former MLB pitcher headlines Greater Peoria Sports Hall of Fame inductions
· Yahoo Sports
PEORIA — Zach McAllister started his baseball journey as a kid on sandlot fields in the area, rose to the game's highest stage, then celebrated a homecoming Saturday on a stage in the Peoria Civic Center ballroom.
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The IVC high school star and longtime major-league baseball pitcher was inducted into the Greater Peoria Sports Hall of Fame as part of the class of 2025.
"Being inducted into the Greater Peoria Sports Hall of Fame feels like everything coming full-circle," McAllister said before a packed banquet hall. "From the fields of central Illinois, to the major leagues, and back home again.
"This honor belongs not just to me, but to the community that raised me."
McAllister was part of a Hall of Fame class that included renowned pool player Judex James, longtime NFL assistant coach Pete Hoener, Dunlap High School and ICC softball star Brigit Cornish Grunow and legendary bowler Gary Smith.
The 2006 Chillicothe IVC baseball team – of which McAllister was part – was inducted, as was the 2004 Peoria Notre Dame boys soccer team and the 2002 and 2003 Eureka girls track & field team.
The banquet also honored the 2025 Tri-County coaches and athletes of the year, and the annual Neve Harms award winner.
"To the Peoria baseball crew, Brian Shouse, Rick Short, Brad Sloane, Pat Venditte and Kyle Hudson, thank you for your friendship, your guidance, and always being in my corner," McAllister said at the podium. "My coaches and teammates from every stage of my journey, you invested in me, challenged me and helped shape who I am."
He thanked his friends and his wife, Kamerin, for their support throughout his career. And he left this for his 2-year-old son, Weller.
"You may be too young to understand this, but someday I hope you'll know that success I've had began with hard work, humility and a deep appreciation for where I came from. You are my greatest joy and my greatest responsibility."
McAllister led Illinois Valley Central High School to the 2006 IHSA Class A state championship. As a senior he went 12-1 with a 1.04 ERA and 116 strikeouts. He also batted .486 and was a consensus All-State and Gatorade Illinois Baseball Player of the Year.
He also played for IVC's basketball team that season, averaging 16.8 points and 7.9 rebounds for the state's runner-up.
He was taken by the New York Yankees in the third round of the 2006 MLB Draft, later traded to Cleveland, and spent most of a nine-year, big-league career there.
"I remember walking into the Cleveland Indians clubhouse, seeing Jim Thome's name above his locker," McAllister said. "Jim isn't just a Hall of Famer, he's part of the story of what's possible. He set the standard not only with his performance, but the way he carried himself. I remember thinking how surreal it was that a kid from central Illinois, who grew up watching him, is now sharing a clubhouse with him."
McAllister had 287 appearances in the majors, including 219 as a reliever. He appeared for the Indians in Game 2 of the 2016 World Series against the Chicago Cubs.
He finished his MLB career with a 29-35 record, 1 save and a 4.15 ERA. Today he serves as a pitching consultant with the Chicago White Sox.
"This is where I was born and raised, this is home for me," McAllister said afterward. "So to be honored in a place like this is special. (His journey through baseball) it was something I dreamed of as a kid, and I kind of had an idea in high school that something good could happen … it always has gone to hard work, determination and belief in yourself, and I've always had that my entire life when it came to what I wanted to accomplish.
"It was always a team around me that allowed me to get here today."
On the GPSHOF menu
◾Gary Smith: The great bowler died in 2024, and his wife, Denise, accepted for him at the induction Saturday. She delivered a tear-filled, emotional tribute, pausing several times.
Smith threw 26 perfect games, including four in Professional Bowlers Association competition. He was the lead face for decades on the hypothetical bowling Mount Rushmore for the Peoria area.
"He bowled his last game in June of 2016," Denise Smith said. "His final shot was a strike. He left his shoes and his bowling ball at the lane and left. He didn't want to try to do it anymore without being able to meet the physicality that was required."
◾Brigit Cornish Grunow: She was an all-state softball player at Dunlap and went on to Illinois Central College, where she led the team to third- and sixth-place national finishes while earning first-team All-America honors in 1994 and 1995.
She went on to play at Iowa, making two trips to the Women's College World Series.
◾Judex James: He is the first pool player inducted into the GPSHOF. The greatest on the table from this area, James over 50 years in the game has beaten some of the world's top players, like Steve Mizerak, Nick Varner, Jeannette Lee (the "Black Widow") and others.
◾Pete Hoener: A Richwoods High School and Bradley University grad, he spent 24 seasons coaching college football, and moved into the NFL as an assistant coach, where he worked with tight ends and offensive lineman for the Cardinals, Bears, 49ers, Panthers and Washington.
The Greater Peoria Sports Hall of Fame online site has detailed bios on each of these inductees.
More on the ceremonies
- The Neve Harms Meritorious Service to Sports Award was shared by longtime super-tandem Jane Bertolino and Jo Huber.
- The 2025 Tri-County Award winners included All-American volleyball player Kenna Wollard of Purdue and Illini Bluffs wrestler Jackson Carroll as the top athletes for 2025, and Olivia Morris (Eureka cross country) and Mike Melick (El Paso-Gridley track and field) as the top coaches.
Dave Eminian is the Journal Star sports columnist, and covers Bradley men's basketball, the Rivermen and Chiefs. He writes the Cleve In The Eve sports column for pjstar.com. He can be reached at 686-3206 or [email protected]. Follow him on X.com @icetimecleve.
This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Greater Peoria Sports Hall of Fame honors its 2025 class