Oilmen outplayed by Lakers, three-game winning streak screeches to halt Whiting, Ind. – June 27, 2016 – The Oilmen have seen Casey Young enough over the years to know they’re going to have to play well to beat the Lakers right-hander. They weren’t up to the task on Monday, as the Lakers prevailed 7-4 behind a victorious effort from Young. Young allowed two runs (one earned) on two hits and three walks over six innings to improve to 2-0 on the Midwest Collegiate League season. “He was really good; his curveball was really good,” Oilmen manager Adam Enright said. “I knew it was a game where we had to keep it manageable if we got down, and then we had some miscues and at that point we were looking at an uphill climb back into the game because he’s usually pretty good and he usually goes seven, eight or nine innings.” The Oilmen (12-12) grabbed the early lead as Tyler Sroczynski (Trinity Christian College / Dyer, Ind.) doubled and scored on a Chris Baker (UIC / South Holland, Ill.) ground ball in the first. It was Baker driving in Sroczynski again in the fifth, as the second Oilmen run crossed the dish when Baker lifted a sacrifice fly. Sroczynski, who had just stolen his 20th straight base without being caught dating back to last summer, crossed the dish to cut the Lakers’ lead to 4-2. Reliever Bobby Humphreys picked up right where Young left off, hurling three innings and yielding two runs (both unearned) while surrendering just one hit and walking one to nail down his first save. While the Laker pitching was stellar and yielded just three total hits, the Oilmen pitching staff issued 11 walks. Reggie Johnson (Alcorn State / South Holland, Ill.) walked six and gave up four runs (two earned) on five hits to take the loss and drop to 0-5. “Johnson was pretty stagnant from his last start,” Enright said. “His pace was better between pitches, but for him to give us a chance to win, he’s got to throw more strikes. He was just trying to grind out there without any of his pitches being outstanding.” Jamary McKinney (Chicago State / Chicago, Ill.) worked in and out of trouble, putting up zeros in each of his first two frames despite allowing two free passes in each inning. However, the Lakers scored three that were charged to McKinney in the eighth to open the lead to five. “McKinney was much better from his last outing after the first couple batters,” Enright said. “He’s made progress.” Sroczynski had two of his team’s three hits, both doubles. His second two-bagger drove in Bo Fletcher in the ninth after two Lakers errors helped hand the Oilmen a scoring chance. The Lakers corralled their first win against the Oilmen this season and improved to 8-13 overall. The Oilmen will look to bounce back on Tuesday as they host the Joliet Admirals at 1:20 p.m. Tickets are available now on NWIOilmen.com. |