The Region's Team Of Northwest Indiana

Whiting, Ind. – July 13, 2013 – The Northwest Indiana Oilmen staved off Rockford rallies in both games of a double header to sweep a twin bill from the Foresters and pull within a game of the Midwest Collegiate League lead. 

In the opening game, the Oilmen scored five unanswered runs to start the game, before the Foresters mounted a five-run rally in the fifth to tie it.  Rockford added a tally in the sixth to grab a 6-5 lead. 

The game was scheduled to last only seven innings since it was part of a double header, but Northwest Indiana tied the game in the seventh on a two-out single by Tyler Baar to send it to extras.  Rashawn Tillman doubled and advanced to third on a balk with nobody out to start the seventh.  Jack Czeszewski and Nick Bartolone were both retired on unassisted plays by first baseman Paul Grotelueschen with the infield drawn in, before Baar came through to extend the contest.

Gerrad Rohan singled and stole second to start the eighth before Ty Hogan bunted him over to third base.  That set up Joe Houlihan, who lifted a sacrifice fly to give the Oilmen a 7-6 victory.

Aveeno Nasiloski was the winning pitcher, tossing two and two-thirds scoreless innings in relief of Danny Pobereyko.  Jack Czeszewski and Kenny Mahala each went 3-for-4, while Anthony Bova, Leiff Clarkson and Tyler Baar enjoyed two-hit games.

In the second game, Brett Schneider worked six and one-third innings of one-run baseball to pick up the win on a night that he said he felt the best he has all season.

“I felt like everything was on for me today,” Schneider said. “I was getting a lot of ground balls, so I knew my game was on.”

Schneider utilized a mix of fastballs and changeups with an occasional curveball to keep Rockford hitters off balance.  He gave the Oilmen, who are in the midst of playing four games in two days, a much-needed long outing.

“When you have that many games, the starters’ outings are always important,” Oilmen manager Justin Huisman said.  “You don’t want to leave a guy out there to die, but you just pray that they have their good stuff and they can go deep into the game to save your bullpen as much as possible.”

Matt Pobereyko came on to nail down the save by recording the final two outs of the game.  He struck out Will DeCraene swinging and caught Al Robbins looking as the Foresters stranded the tying run at third and the go-ahead run at second.

Huisman said it was important to pull out victories in both games of a double header against the last-place Foresters, who are now 2-14. 

“You’ve got to assume that the other teams aren’t going to lose against them, but Lexington did split against them the other day,” he said.  “That might be the difference in where you sit in the standings come playoff time.  It was pretty important to pull these games out, even though it wasn’t pretty.”

The Oilmen have a quick turnaround as they play another double header tomorrow at Lexington beginning at 1 p.m.  With an MCL record of 13-7, the Oilmen enter Sunday in second place, a game behind DuPage.  The Snipes are 13-8, a half of a game behind Northwest Indiana. Michael Steensen is slated to go in game one of the twin bill with Joe Cochran scheduled to take the mound in the second game.