The Crestwood Panthers erased an early deficit to the Northwest Indiana Oilmen, but ultimately fell short in a wild 11-inning affair.  

After falling behind 6-0 early, Crestwood scored seven unanswered runs to take a 7-6 lead. The Oilmen tied it in the seventh, and took the lead back with four runs in the 11th. The game would end 11-7 in favor of the Oilmen.   

The Panthers fell behind 6-0 in the third inning after committing four errors in the first three innings. After the Oilmen had scored their six runs, head coach D’Vante Glenn brought the team together on the mound and the team responded by retiring the side and storming back.  

The Panthers scored four runs in the fourth inning after loading the bases with one out. Aydin Wright and Joshua Aguiniga were hit by pitches and Jimmy Gurgone walked all with the bases loaded. Peter Fusek completed the scoring with a sacrifice fly to make it 6-4.  

In the fifth, Crestwood tallied three more. Jimmy Gurgone had an RBI single to make it 6-5, and Peter Fusek reached second base on an error scoring two. Coach Glenn loved the fight his team showed in their comeback.   

“Once we came back we fought hard, found some barrels, and got some guys in.” Glenn said.  

The loss came despite some heroic pitching performances. After giving up six runs (four earned) in his first 2.1 innings, starter Jacob Cook retired the next eight batters before exiting after the fifth inning. Ryan Manikowski came on to pitch four innings of one hit ball giving up only one unearned run.    

Sean Conroy came on to pitch the 10th inning, and threw a three up three down inning before giving up four runs in the 11th. Glenn was very pleased with his pitching performances.  

“They knew what they had to do.” Said Glenn, “I’m just extremely proud of all of them.”  

The Panthers play their next game on Monday at 5 p.m. against the league leading Lake County Corn Dogs at Marian Catholic High School in Chicago Heights, Illinois. It will be the first time Crestwood and Lake County meet. Coach Glenn is excited about the matchup with the league leaders.  

“I want to go in there, and I want to compete.” Said Glenn, “I want to put the rest of the league on notice.”

For the full box score, visit the Northern League Pointstreak page: http://baseball.pointstreak.com/boxscore.html?gameid=577357