Oilmen Week in Review: NWI Begins Second Half of Season The Northwest Indiana Oilmen, who were struggled entering this past week, got on the right track before the All-Star Break. The Oilmen had four games the week before, winning only one of those games with all three losses coming to rival Southland. The Oilmen faced off against the Chicago Zephyrs to end the first half of the season and the Oilmen defeated the Zephyrs by the score of 8-0. The Oilmen got six strong innings from starter Danny Pobereyko, who did not allow a run and struck out 10. Andrew Jackson, Kevin Jones and Anthony Gomez all pitched scoreless innings to keep the Zephyrs off the board. In the All-Star Game, eight of the Oilmen all made key contributions for the South All-Stars to defeat the North All-Stars 10-3. The Oilmen had a game Friday night with the team that was tied with the Oilmen for third place, the Lexington Snipes. The Oilmen were 3-1 against the Snipes this season entering Friday’s game. Nick Nauracy was on the mound Friday as he opposed North All-Star Brett Fanning. Nauracy had one win and one loss against the Snipes this season. He was going into the game hoping to put the first half of the season behind him and come out strong for the second half. Nauracy went 2-2 with a 7.17 ERA in the first half of the season while striking out 29. Nauracy was locked in from the start of the game, until he ran into trouble in the sixth getting the first two guys out before giving up a double to Eric Phillis and an RBI single to Adam Casson. The Oilmen were able to get that run right back in the bottom of the sixth as Andrew Ray hit his second home run of the season and the first Oilmen home run in Oil City Stadium. Ray, who has been struggling this season batting .166, is hoping for a better second half as well. Gomez came in and pitched the eighth inning for the Oilmen to get the hold and pitched a scoreless frame. The Oilmen led 4-1 heading into the ninth inning, so it was a save situation for Oilmen closer and South All-Star Matt Pobereyko for the first time since he picked up the save on June 23 against the Southland Vikings. Pobereyko got a quick strikeout to start the frame before giving up a single to Jeff Cardenas. Then, he struck out Jake Capko and Ryan Frye to end the game and pick up his ninth save of the season. The Oilmen entered the All-Star Break with a 14-9 record in the MCL and 16-10 overall, and started out the second half of the season with a win over the Lexington Snipes. With the win, the Oilmen took over sole possession of third place. The Oilmen trail the first-place DuPage County Hounds by three games and the Southland Vikings by one game. The Oilmen have 17 games left to play in the season, including four games with the Hounds and three with the Vikings. |