A pitchers’ duel turned sour for the Panthers on Tuesday as they lost to the Southland Vikings. 

Both teams traded zeroes throughout the first six frames of the ballgame. However, the Vikings struck first with two runs in the seventh inning and blew it open thanks in part to a Logan Anderson grand slam. The game ended 7-0 in favor of the Vikings.  

Charlie Faoro pitched his best game of the season for the Panthers, however as he went six innings giving up only two hits and striking out 12. Faoro also retired the final 17 Vikings he faced.  

“He just went out there after a long week of rest and was confident in all of his pitches.” Head coach D’Vante Glenn said after the game. 

The Panthers’ offense was shut out for the third time in five games spraying seven hits on the day. Charlie Schau and Alex Las each had two hit days to lead the offense.  

“I don’t think that we had bad approaches. I think the ball just did not fall our way.” Glenn said.  

The Panthers are now in the midst of a stretch of nine games in ten days. They are also in the midst of a playoff chase as they are now 2.0 games behind the Joliet Generals for the final playoff spot. Glenn knows how critical these final games are in the race for the playoffs.  

“We played our best baseball in the month of June when we were playing almost everyday.” Glenn said, “This is nothing we are not used to.”  

The Panthers play next on Wednesday at Marian Catholic High School at 5 p.m. against the Lake County Corn Dogs. It will be the second time these two teams have met at Marian Catholic this season.  

For the full box score, visit the Northern League Pointstreak page: http://baseball.pointstreak.com/boxscore.html?gameid=577448