Lemont, Ill. – July 10, 2018 – The Crestwood Panthers were once again unable to keep pace with a potent DuPage County Hounds offense as they fell to an 8-2 defeat.   

The Panthers had their chances to keep themselves in the game, but their offense left 11 runners on base, ultimately sealing their fate.  

Panthers manager Isaac Valdez elected to give Andrew Stone (Undecided/Chicago Heights, Ill.) the ball and take the mound, and he kept the Panthers in the game.  Despite many miscues from the defense, Stone managed to work six innings allowing five runs (one earned) on eight hits and walk, striking out two in a losing effort.   

After Stone threw two scoreless innings to open up the ballgame, the Hounds offense sprung to life in the third.  Two consecutive errors from Michael Ruffolo (Rockhurst/Norridge, Ill.) and Brian Vance (Saint Joseph’s (Pa.)/Chicago, Ill.) pushed across the Hounds first run of the game.  Stone would then induce a double play, but the Hounds scored three more times with two outs on a Kennedy Phillips RBI single and Matt Collins two-run home run.  

The Hounds would add on in the seventh inning when Tyler Zarembka (Joliet JC/Plainfield, Ill.) took over on the mound, making his Panthers debut.  Things would not go to plan for the left-handed reliever, as he allowed three runs in the seventh inning.  Zarembka would recover and throw a scoreless eighth, but a six-run deficit proved too much for the Panthers to overcome in the late goings.  

The Panthers opened the scoring in the first inning after Pat Mayo (Spring Hill College/Oak Lawn, Ill.) crossed the plate following a Collins throwing error after a two-out double.  Pat McGowan would double the team’s run total in the fourth inning on a fielder’s choice.  

Outside of their two runs, the Panthers could not get anything going offensively, as the Hounds pitching staff limited them to just six hits.   Although the Hounds did not rack up the strikeouts, they produced seven groundouts and 12 flyouts, keeping the Panthers off the scoreboard even without their best swing-and-miss stuff.   

Every Panther in the starting lineup was able to reach base at some point during the game, but the lack of situational hitting and inability to come through with runners in scoring position doomed the ballclub once again.  Of the 11 runners the Panthers left on base, eight were left in scoring position.  

The Panthers will look to rebound tomorrow as they head to Chicago Heights to take on the Southland Vikings at Hap Bruno Field at 5:00 p.m.  As always, the game will be broadcast live on the Crestwood Panthers Broadcasting Network via Facebook Live with Ryan Zimmerman delivering the play-by-play call.