The Crestwood Panthers and Joliet Generals split a doubleheader on Wednesday in Carol Stream, in the first matchup since last season’s MCL Semifinal series.

The Generals took game one by the score of 4-3, and the Panthers took game two 6-5. Matt Maloney took the hill for game one, and he pitched all six innings in the loss. Despite the loss, head coach D’Vante Glenn was pleased with Maloney’s performance.

“[Maloney] did everything we needed him to do.” said Glenn, “It was nice to see from him.”

Offensively, the Panthers tallied a run each in the second and third to take a brief 2-1 lead after Nico Pena and Connor Janik both scored. The final tally of the night came on a Peter Fusek RBI single in the fifth inning to tie it at three before Joliet took the lead for good in the sixth.

In game two, the Panthers fell behind early 5-0. The comeback began in the third inning on RBI singles by Aydin Wright and Peter Fusek. The next big inning came in the sixth.

With two outs and the bases loaded, Peter Fusek tripled off of the right field wall to clear the bases and tie the ballgame. The very next pitch, Fusek scored on a wild pitch to give the Panthers the lead they would never relinquish.

Fusek finished the day with five RBIs and now sits firmly atop the Northern League in RBIs with 15. Glenn has been nothing but pleased with Fusek’s performance this season.

“He does exactly what we as a staff ask him to do.” Glenn said, “He came through, and it was great to see.”

On the mound, it was Sean Conroy’s time to shine by earning the win in five shutout relief innings. Glenn said that Conroy had expressed desire to pitch again, and Glenn loved the gutsy performance he got from Conroy.

“He had a lot of confidence,” Glenn said, “He held It together, and the bats picked him up.”

The Panthers next game is on Thursday at 5 p.m. at Marian Catholic High School against the Generals. For the full box score, visit the Northern League Pointstreak page: http://baseball.pointstreak.com/boxscore.html?gameid=577365