The Region's Team Of Northwest Indiana

FRIDAY’S GAME:
Joliet Generals (4-17)
at Northwest Indiana Oilmen (16-7)

July 31, 2020 • 7:10 p.m. • Whiting, Ind. • Oil City Stadium
Broadcast: Oilmen Broadcasting Network (Facebook Live)

The first-place Northwest Indiana Oilmen completed the hat trick off walk-off wins over the Southland Vikings on Thursday night, beating their rivals in walk-off fashion for the third time in three Oil City Stadium meetings this year. This time it took a four-run bottom of the ninth that culminated with a walk-off single by Angelo Cantelo to allow the Oilmen to beat the Vikings by a score of 7-6 for the second straight meeting. The Joliet Generals are in town on Friday for a $2 Miller Lite Pint Night.

Pitching Matchup – Northwest Indiana RHP Mike Madura (Purdue Fort Wayne / Munster, Ind.) vs. Joliet’s Seth Quick (Triton College / Lombard, Ill.)  

Game Notes

• The Oilmen will look to avoid the letdown factor following a thrilling win over the rival Southland Vikings this time around. The Oilmen are 0-2 previously the day after walking off with wins over Southland. The team fell 9-6 to these Generals back on July 12 and 11-2 to the Minutemen on July 18.
• Joliet finds itself in the basement of the MCL standings, but there are several reasons the Oilmen can’t look past them on Friday night. The Generals recorded a 9-6 victory the last time they came to Oil City Stadium back on July 12. In addition, Joliet is coming off its fourth triumph of the season, 4-3 over the Hounds on Thursday night. All four Joliet wins have come against the top three teams in the standings, while the squad is winless against the Panthers and Minutemen.
• A win on Friday would allow the Oilmen to up their record to 10 games over .500, which would mark the first time the team has reached that precipice since finishing the 2017 season at 34-16.
• The Oilmen carry a three-game winning streak into Friday night as they attempt to match their best stretch of the season. The squad reeled off four victories in a row from July 13-17.
• Tre’ Hondras had two extra-base hits including a home run and four RBIs on Thursday night against the Vikings. It marked his first multi-RBI game of the season as he nearly matched his season total from the first 17 games (five) in one night.
• The Oilmen improved to 3-1 in one-run games on Thursday with all three victories coming over the Vikings.
• The Oilmen are 3-1 against the Generals this season and 42-16 all-time against the Joliet franchise.
• After four days of rest, Mike Madura will take the ball once again for the Oilmen on Friday. He worked 5 1/3 innings of five-hit ball and allowed two runs (one earned) while striking out seven and walking none en route to the victory on Sunday vs. Crestwood. Madura, who will face the Generals for the first time this season, has allowed five walks while notching 24 strikeouts and posting a 1.77 ERA over 20 1/3 innings spanning four games, all starts. If he can pick up a victory on Friday, he’ll become the first MCL pitcher with four wins this year.
• Joliet pitcher Seth Quick is 1-1 with an 11.94 ERA in 17 1/3 innings of work this summer. He has walked nine and struck out 15. His most recent outing was his best of the year, when he worked 2 2/3 scoreless innings against Crestwood.
• Tommy Windt saw his 14-game hitting streak snapped on Thursday. He did reach base twice via two walks.
• Oilmen pitching coach Matt Pobereyko will serve one final game in that capacity on Friday. The Oilmen legend who has reached as high as Triple-A will resume his playing career by joining the Saint Paul Saints of the America Association next week. 

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.