A five-run fifth inning was all the Panthers and starter Erik Carlson needed in Saturday’s win over the Chicago American Giants at Illinois Tech. 

In the 5-2 win, Carlson pitched eight strong innings giving up only two runs and walking no one. Crestwood was short of pitchers on this night, and Carlson went the distance in a game that was called because of darkness. Coach D’Vante Glenn was more than pleased with what he got from his starter on the night. 

“He did exactly what I asked him to do, and he had supreme confidence while he did it.” said Glenn. 

All of Crestwood’s five runs scored in the fifth inning, and Peter Fusek started off the strong inning with a go-ahead two RBI double. Fusek moved his RBI total to eight on the season, tied for second in the Northern League. 

Connor Janik followed that up with an RBI single of his own to make it 3-1. Janik made a heads up play on the basepaths by stealing home with two outs while Giants pitcher Justin Meyer was trying to tag Sergio Oliveres out between first and second making it 4-1. 

Iden Ortiz walked in a run with the bases loaded to finish the scoring on the night. Glenn was pleased with the aggressiveness of the offense. 

“They saw [Meyer] out there for a while, and they were able to attack him.” Glenn said. 

The Panthers next game will be on Sunday at 5 pm against the Northwest Indiana Oilmen at Griffith High School. The Panthers are 1-2 against the Oilmen this season, but the Panthers won the last time these two teams faced off on Wednesday. 

For the full box score, visit the Northern League Pointstreak page: http://baseball.pointstreak.com/boxscore.html?gameid=577356