The Region's Team Of Northwest Indiana

Let me start out by saying how much of a blessing it has been to play in front of all you amazing Oilmen supporters here in my hometown this summer. It’s been an awesome summer so far, and has had its fair share of ups and downs for our team. We finished the regular season with a record of 26-14, good enough to land us in third place. Unfortunately, we only have one first-round playoff game at Oil City Stadium, Wednesday night, as we take on the DuPage County Hounds. We’re counting on you Oilmen faithful to come out strong, pack the stands and cheer us on. It’s a lot more fun to play in front of a big crowd and we feed off your energy. Wednesday night’s game is half off everything, so grab your friends and come out to the park. 

If you missed any action this summer, our lineup is anchored by Indiana University outfielder Craig Dedelow, Northern Illinois University outfielder Jason Gasser and Western Michigan utility man Nate Schneider. Dedelow leads the Oilmen with a .321 average, and 23 RBIs. He’s also tied for team lead in home runs. Gasser is right behind him with a .319 average and 21 RBIs. Schneider rounds out the top three in every major hitting category on the Oilmen and ranks second on the team with seven steals. Look for these three to put the team on their backs and put up some big numbers in the playoffs.

Our pitching staff has done about all you can ask a pitching staff to do this summer, leading the MCL in strikeouts, WHIP, shutouts and saves. The Oilmen staff also ranks second in the MCL in ERA and opponents’ batting average. Our staff is loaded with talent top to bottom, as you can see, and is led by Kentucky Wesleyan University right hander Matt Pobereyko, Hill College righty Cameron Linck and Central Michigan University lefty Jimmy McNamara. Pobereyko has flat out dominated this summer with 42 strikeouts in only 23 innings with a team record 0.79 ERA. He also owns the MCL single-season saves record with 13 this summer. Linck has been as good as you can be as a starter, leading the team in innings with 51 and posting a 1.94 ERA while striking out 45. McNamara is a solid go to guy in a big game. He will be starting game one of the playoff series Tuesday night at DuPage. McNamara has picked up three wins and posted a 3.97 ERA through 43 innings this summer.

We haven’t fared the best against the Hounds this summer, only going 2-6 against them, we are confident we can take them out of the playoffs this series. Look for the six all-stars that I listed above to led the Oilmen to the championship series. It’ll be a heated, exciting series you won’t want to miss. See you at Oil City on Wednesday night. Go Oilmen!

Andrew Lowe 27