The Region's Team Of Northwest Indiana

MONDAY’S GAME:
Northwest Indiana Oilmen (5-3)
at MCL Minutemen (1-6)

July 13, 2020 • 2 p.m. • Lansing, Ill. • Lansing Old Timer’s Field
Broadcast: Oilmen Broadcasting Network (Facebook Live)

The Northwest Indiana Oilmen will attempt to bounce back on Monday afternoon as they try to recover from Sunday’s 9-6 defeat to Joliet. The Oilmen stranded 13 on base in a game where six different NWI players had multi-hit affairs and eight of the nine in the lineup had at least one hit. First-inning errors and fifth-inning walks helped the Generals’ cause at Oil City Stadium.

Pitching Matchup – Northwest Indiana RHP Mike Madura (Purdue Fort Wayne / Munster, Ind.) vs. Minutemen RHP Ryan Troxel (Indiana Tech / Valparaiso, Ind.)

Game Notes

• The Oilmen are 2-0 after a loss this season and will look to move their bounce-back record to 3-0 with a victory on Monday afternoon.
• The Oilmen will play just their second game away from Oil City Stadium and their first game outside of the Hoosier State this season. NWI will seek its first win away from Whiting but does have a “road” victory in a game played at the OC where DuPage County was the home team.
• Mike Madura takes the mound for his second outing of the season after receiving no decision in his start against the Vikings last week at Dowling Park. The second-year Oilman allowed two runs (one earned) on five hits and one walk while striking out two over four innings.
• The pitching matchup is a battle of Northwest Indiana natives as Valparaiso High School graduate Ryan Troxel gets the ball for Jack Murphy’s squad. Troxel recently announced his intention to transfer from Saint Xavier to Indiana Tech. He logged six innings in his season debut vs. DuPage County and yielded seven hits while allowing four runs (two earned) with three walks and four strikeouts.
• The Minutemen find themselves in the basement of the MCL entering Monday’s action, but all of the squad’s losses have been close. All six defeats have come by three runs or fewer including a string of three straight one-run losses on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Each of their last four setbacks have come by one run, and the only victory came 8-2 over Crestwood last Wednesday.
• The Oilmen topped the Minutemen 5-3 on opening night at Oil City Stadium, the only all-time meeting between the two teams to date.
• Tyler Nelson has hit safely in all seven games so far including five multi-hit performances. Angelo Cantelo has hit safely in all six of his appearances. 

Season Notes

• The 2020 Oilmen roster features representatives from numerous Division-I institutions including the following conferences: Big 10, American, Ohio Valley Conference, Missouri Valley Conference, Horizon League, Mid-American Conference, Summit League and the ACC.
• The Big Ten is well represented on this year’s roster, with players from five different conference members on the squad – Indiana, Purdue, Ohio State, Michigan and Iowa.
• This marks the Oilmen’s first season under the direction of Chris Cunningham, who is the fourth manager in team history. Cunningham is no stranger to the MCL, as the former professional ballplayer in the Tampa Bay Rays organization managed the Southland Vikings from 2011-2014. In his final two seasons, the Vikings won back-to-back MCL championships.
• Oilmen legend Matt Pobereyko is serving as the team’s pitching coach this season. He racked up an MCL-record 18 career saves in 2013 and 2014 including a single-season MCL record 13 in his final campaign with the Oilmen. Pobereyko is an active professional pitcher and has reached as high as Triple-A.
• As usual, the Oilmen are loaded with local talent. Three Oilmen players graduated from Andrean High School, one from Highland, three from Griffith, one from Valparaiso, two from Munster and two from Lake Central. Expanding to Illinois high schools, two Oilmen competed at Brother Rice, one at Oak Forest, one at Marist, one at Marian Catholic, three at Homewood-Flossmoor, one at Carl Sandburg, one at St. Rita and one at St. Laurence.