The Panthers brought in a ton of new faces in their home matchup where they took on the 4-1 Lake County Corn Dogs. Robert Tate, Alijah Rainey, and starting pitcher Erick Cerezo all made their Panther debuts. Deandre Gilmore said to expect a surplus of new players to join the squad in the next couple of days, as the Panthers want as much talent as they can get their hands on to help get them out of this funk. 

The story of the night was Erick Cerezo, the Venezuelan native with quite the story attached to him. As an 18-year old, Cerezo was planning on signing a major league contract. However, an injury delayed this and many thought this meant the door was officially shut for him. Cerezo did not shy away from finding a new opportunity. Cerezo decided his best chance to pursue his dreams was to play at the collegiate level, where he committed to Prairie State to play with Deandre Gilmore. So it is no surprise that the stud lefty decided to play for the Indiana Panthers. 

Cerezo went six innings and only allowed one run in the sixth inning via a sac-fly. Cerezo allowed three hits and struck out five in a no decision. Cerezo was thankful for the opportunity and even explained how he got this start on short notice.

“I felt really good. I was not expecting to throw that game. I got confident in my pitches, mostly the breaking balls. Fastball was also working very well.”

Cerezo did not fail to mention the impact Coach Gilmore had on his career, which was a major factor in him deciding to come play for the Panthers. Also, he realized how well of an opportunity the Northern League serves for players trying to get scouted.

“Coach Dre [Deandre] was my coach in college. He invited me today. It is such an opportunity to get watched by coaches and possible MLB scouts. Every opportunity I get, I take it. I worked with coach Gilmore at Prairie State. He always has a lot of confidence in me and he always pushes me to be better at Prairie State.”

Anthony Mangano pitched three innings in relief and only allowed one, but still got charged with the loss as a lead off walk came around to score in the ninth to make it 2-1 Corn Dogs. 

The Panthers offense struggled again, but Robert Tate drove in the lone run in the eighth via a base hit to tie it. 

The Panthers will continue their suspended game against the Vikings with a 7-7 score going into the top of the 10th with the Panthers batting and as the road team Saturday, June 3 at 5 p.m. CT. Immediately after, they will play the Vikings in the originally scheduled game as the home team. This game will only be seven innings. Both games will be at Highland High School in Highland, Indiana.