The Region's Team Of Northwest Indiana

Chicago Heights Ill.- With two outs in the bottom of the fifth inning things were looking dire for the Northwest Indiana Oilmen as they trailed the Crestwood Panthers 5-1.

The Oilmen offense would erupt for an eight run outburst all with their backs against the wall to take the lead in a game they were victorious 11-9 in an eight inning game. The Oilmen put together five walks and four hits to take the lead all with one out to spare. Cain Headrick helped break things open with a triple that scored three runs.

“Guys didn’t expand the strike zone which we did earlier in the game with the bases loaded in opportunities that led to us not scoring. Headrick squared up a ball that really sparked us to score a few runs,” Oilmen Manager Adam Enright said.“ We took advantage of what we were given, which were some opportunities for some walks to blow the game open.”

Jake Paymaster (New Lenox/Triton) was the winning pitcher for the Oilmen tossing three innings including frames in the fifth and sixth that saw him face the minimum. Defensively the Oilmen did not commit any errors on a day where the infield conditions were less than ideal.

 With Crestwood drawing closer, Nick Heiden (Minnoka/Aurora) entered in the eighth to record the final three outs. Heiden would shut the door and pick up his fourth save of the season. The right hander has become one of the most reliable bullpen options for the Oilmen.

 “He hasn’t really had an inning this year where he’s struggled to throw strikes and command was an issue,” Enright said. “He has a good arsenal of pitches that all look like fastballs coming out of his hand and that’s what makes him so valuable at the end of games.”

The Oilmen will try to get their third consecutive win when they travel to face the Lake County Corn Dogs at Legacy Field on Saturday at 7:00 P.M. The game will be streamed across all platforms of the Oilmen broadcast network.