Former MLB pitcher headlines Greater Peoria Sports Hall of Fame inductions
Former MLB pitcher and IVC star Zach McAllister headlined the Greater Peoria Sports Hall of Fame 2025 induction class in a ballroom ceremony. Other players and coaches from the past and present were also honored during the evening.
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. 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.
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