The Crestwood Panthers split their doubleheader with the Chicago American Giants on Tuesday at Marian Catholic High School.  

The Giants took game one 10-8 in seven inning, while the Panthers took game two 7-4 after darkness ended the game at the end of the fifth inning. The Panthers are now 6-3 on the year against the Giants.  

After falling behind 4-0 in game one, the Panthers clawed their way back with five unanswered to make it 5-4 at the end of three. Jaylun Camper had two RBIs in this stretch on a single in the second and a groundout in the third. Hobbs Dunne and Peter Fusek each had RBI singles, and Kyree Alexander had an RBI on a hit by pitch.  

After falling behind 7-5 in the top of the fourth, the Panthers scored three times in the bottom half to make it 8-7. Hobbs Dunne had an RBI single (His second RBI of the day) and later stole home on a pickoff move to tie it at seven. Malik Staples broke the tie with an RBI single.  

However, the Giants took the lead back in the sixth on a three-run homer by Jayden Cummings. The Panthers left the bases loaded in the seventh to finish the ballgame.  

In game two, the Panther started off hot with a four-run first inning. Connor Janik and Malik Staples each had RBI singles, and Jacob White had a two-RBI single to make it 4-0. The Giants came back to tie it in the fourth, however, with darkness approaching.  

With two outs in the fifth, Jacob White again came up big with a two RBI bloop single to give him four RBIs on the day. Malik Staples added another bloop single to make it 7-4 before Erik Carlson closed it out for the Panthers win.  

Game one had four lead changes and the Panthers had to bounce back from losing an early lead to win game two. Head coach D’Vante Glenn loved the resilience in his team.  

“That’s the identity of our team.” Glenn said, “We always have it in our head that we can come back.”  

The Panthers also got a lot of production from the bottom of the batting order today as well. Nine of the 16 RBIs today came from the seven and eight holes in the lineup. Glenn is happy with the depth that having production at the bottom of the lineup adds.

“When the bottom of our lineup does what we want them to, it makes the game easier.” Glenn said.  

In the pitching staff Jacob Cook pitched the first six innings in game one, and Hobbs Dunne pitched a scoreless seventh in game one. Erik Carlson went the full five in game two, striking out eight and earning his third win. 

“Jacob is not a normal starter, so having him go that distance was amazing.” Glenn said, “Erik [Carlson] does what he does. He is a competitor.”  

The Panthers play next on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. against the Lake County Corn Dogs at Legacy Fields in Crown Point. The Panthers are 1-2 against the Corn Dogs this season.  

For the full box scores. Visit the Northern League Pointstreak page: Game 1; Game 2