The Region's Team Of Northwest Indiana

The Oilmen were triumphant over the Highland Indiana Panthers 6-3 on Tuesday.

The Indiana Panthers got on the board in the second inning after Jaylun Camper singled, scoring one run.

The Oilmen captured the lead, 4-1, in the bottom of the second when Aidan Thaxton was struck by a pitch, driving in a run, Quinn Flanagan scored after tagging up, and Jalen House tripled, scoring two runs.

Ryan Sigale opened the game for the Oilmen. The starting pitcher gave up five hits and one run over four innings, striking out none and walking one. Max Hoogeveen led things off on the mound for the Indiana Panthers. The right-handed pitcher allowed five hits and four runs (zero earned) over five innings, striking out four and walking none. Cole Deardorff, Troy Vosburgh, and Flanagan each came on in relief for the Northwest Indiana Oilmen and shutdown the Panthers.

AJ Taylor led Northwest Indiana Oilmen with three runs batted in. They went 1-for-4 on the day. House led the Oilmen with two hits in four at bats. Jake Pauley stole two bases.

The Panthers tallied 11 hits in the game. Demetrio Guizar, Camper, Dom Owens, and Arnoldo Velazquez each collected two hits for the visiting side. Gino Gazzillo and Camper each drove in one run for the Panthers. Gazzillo stole two bases, and the Panthers stole five bases in the game.

Jalen House was selected as the White Castle Player of the Game. House demonstrated exceptional ability in his second game with the squad. House was 2-4 with 2 RBI and a walk. He also had 2 extra base hits, grabbing a double and a triple in the contest.  The NIU commit also flashed the leather in the outfield with a few nice plays. The youngster is sure to shine as the year continues.

Tyler Zunkel was available for comment after the Oilmen's 6-0 start. He noted the importance of timely hitting in today's contest. "They almost doubled our hits, we just got them at the right time. We have a lot of clutch guys, and we were really happy with the timing of those hits". He also provided some insight on the pitching, including the debut of starter Ryan Sigale. "I wish I could have thrown Sigale more innings, he had 75 through 4 innings. He'll get better as we go on, he's not really a starter yet but we are getting him going in that transition now. He did pretty awesome, and he got us to (Troy) Vosburgh and Cole (Deardorff) who did the job we needed." He also provided discussed Quinn Flanagan, who picked up the save after starting at 2nd base today. "Quinn is more of a position player, but you saw today that he is a good pitcher. He can locate that offspeed stuff, and he was awesome with that". He also was asked about getting his guys prepared for today's 11am start time, as compared to the usual 7:10pm starts at home. "I made them show up for BP at 9:40, and they all got here on time. I think having the kids here to cheer them on also kept them going".

The Oilmen play at home on Wednesday against the Hammond Vikings in their next game, a 7:10pm start at Oil City Stadium.