Hammond, IN- Panthers Vikings games continued to be close this season as the Vikings beat the Panthers 3-2 Monday. Despite all of the games being close, the Vikings now lead the series 4-1 while winning four contests in a row. Despite only having three hits along with three errors, the Vikings found a way to win as the Panthers offense really struggled.

Albero Lamas was the pitcher and was looking to shake-off a couple shaky starts. Lamas threw his best start and mowed through the Viking offense. Lamas allowed just one hit in six innings while striking out five. Lamas allowed three runs mostly because of his three walks. However only two were earned as a big error in the third got the Vikings their first run. 

“I feel great. I feel like I’m starting to get back into the groove of things. My fastball is what was on for me today. Being able to use it while I was ahead of the count to get the job done was huge.”

The Panthers scored the first run in the second inning off of a two out George Nahabedian single to bring in Kevin Bushnell. They retook the lead in the sixth when Josh Outlaw scored off of a throw that went into left field by Viking catcher Matt Merk as he was trying to nab Outlaw at third. 

The big go-ahead run came in the sixth as Will Hill came off the bench and hit a two-run double to make it 3-2.

Lamas got the loss, but there is no doubt that the loss was not on him. However, Lamas still looked for a way he could improve. 

“I have to clean up my walks and stay ahead in more counts.”

Despite his numbers not being where he wants them, Lamas was not lacking confidence and said that a start like this makes him confident as ever.

 “I felt very confident going in and it continues to grow after an outing like this one.”

On the topic of pitching, the Vikings pitching staff deserves all the credit in the world after Monday’s performance. Matt Maloney, Julien Hachem, and Brandon West all cruised in their respective appearances. In the combined nine innings, the trio allowed only one earned run, walked one, and struck out seven.

A crucial part of the game was in the top of the third where the Panthers ran themselves into some outs. Daniel Gay reached first on a throwing error by the pitcher and tried to get all the way to third. He was thrown out for out number one. Josh Outlaw tried to score while on second after a George Bilecki single with two outs, but was thrown out at home. The Panthers did not score a run that inning even with having three of the four hitters reach base.

Robert Tate had another multi-hit game as he went 2-4. The day Kevin Bushnell found out he won Northern League Player of the Week, he followed it with a typical 2-4 night. Max Everaert also pitched two scoreless in relief.

BOX SCORE- 

http://thenorthernleaguestats.com/sports/bsb/2022-23/boxscores/20230703_zll9.xml