The Region's Team Of Northwest Indiana

Sugar Grove, Ill. – July 8, 2014 – After taking a loss on July 1 against the hot-hitting Southland Vikings, Oilmen pitcher Danny Pobereyko was happy to see a different opponent on Tuesday night.

Pobereyko tossed six shutout innings, guiding the Oilmen to an 8-0 victory over the Chicago Zephyrs in the final game before the All-Star Break. The victory was a much needed one for the Oilmen, who entered Tuesday in fourth place in the league standings.

Pobereyko scattered four hits over six scoreless frames, picking up the win to improve to 3-2. The Butler right-hander had allowed seven runs on 10 hits in four innings against the Vikings last week.

“I just tried to keep the ball down more,” Pobereyko said. “In my last outing, I gave up a lot of hard hits on a lot of fastballs up and in. I try to keep everything down.”

Nate Schneider reached base three times, including a third-inning RBI single that extended his hitting streak to nine games. Anthony Colosimo reached base three times, rapping a run-scoring single in the second inning that started the scoring.

The Oilmen added a single tally in the fourth before breaking the game open with three runs in the sixth. The sixth-inning rally was aided by four walks and a hit batter.

Zephyrs (4-17) starter Kyle Cliff, who took the loss, was lifted after only two innings, allowing one run on three hits. Relievers Richie Matyas and Lorenzo Aguayo both struggled with command.  

“It’s nice to go out there and put some runs up again and have the pitchers throw a shutout,” Oilmen manager Justin Huisman said. “You can’t really complain when you have a day like that.”

Oilmen relievers Andrew Jackson, Kevin Jones and Anthony Gomez each tossed scoreless frames. Tuesday was the fifth time the Oilmen have shutout an opposing team this season.

The Oilmen finish the unofficial first half of the season at 16-10 overall and 14-9 in Midwest Collegiate League play.  

“It’s been a tough summer,” Huisman said. “Offensively, it’s been really hard to get going with the inconsistency with the weather. We’re finally going to have a stretch here right after the All-Star Break of playing a ton of baseball.”

Eight Oilmen will participate in Wednesday’s Midwest Collegiate League All-Star Game, which will be hosted at Oil City Stadium. The first pitch is slated for 7:30 p.m. with all tickets on sale for $12. Half of the revenue of all ticket sales will benefit the family of Bryce Nowakowski, who was born with a rare heart defect and is in need of a heart transplant.