The Region's Team Of Northwest Indiana

WHITING, Ind. -- Team Serbia came into the International Baseball Challenge Championship hungry for that title after defeating Team Croatia in the afternoon game.

Serbia defeated Team North America, 12-5, at Oil City Stadium for the IBC Championship Sunday. 

Adam Enright, Manager of North America, said it was much better that Team Serbia picked up so many local high quality players.

"If the IBC is going to continue to come here and expand it will be good to get local players," Enright said. 

The Serbians who jumped on the Americans starting pitcher Chad Patrick (Hebron, Ind./Purdue Northwest) right away in the first inning after scoring two runs in the opening frame. They tacked on one more in the top of the third to go ahead 3-0. Patrick ended up getting the loss, pitching five innings, allowing five runs (four earned), scattering seven hits, issuing three walks and striking out five.

North America fought back and scored two in the bottom of that inning after Brandon Petkoff (Frankfort, Ill./Texas A&M Corpus Christi) singled to center scoring Nick Figus (Frankfort, Ill./Illinois Wesleyan) then Hunter Thorn (Portage, Ind./Purdue Northwest) singled to left scoring Jackson Dvorak  (New Lenox, Ill./Missouri St. Louis) from second.

Serbia would answer right back and get those two runs back in the fourth inning to put them ahead 5-2 off Patrick. The Serbians hit a big blow as Stefan Miladinovich smacked a 2-run home run over the left field wall to make it 7-2 in the fifth inning. 

Zaid Walker (Flossmoor, Ill./Michigan State) put Team North America back in the ball game as he ripped a 2-RBI double to left scoring Thorn and Chris Baker (South Holland, Ill./Trinity Christian) to make it 8-4 in the bottom of the eighth. Figus roped an RBI single scoring Walker to make it 8-5. 

Team Serbia would put the exclmation point on the Americans after scoring four runs in the ninth to put them ahead 12-5. Team North America went down 1-2-3 in the ninth as the score would stand 12-5.

The Oilmen (Team North America) returns to action Monday, July 23 as they take on the DuPage County Hounds with eight games in seven days to conclude the regular season.