WHITING, Ind. – The Northwest Indiana Oilmen had another dominant run-rule win over the Griffith Generals, as the Oilmen took care of business in Whiting with a 12-2 victory in seven innings. Similar to the previous matchup, the Oilmen pounced on the Generals early and took advantage of defensive mistakes. The Generals had four errors on defense, putting their season total at 39 in just 16 games.
Brandon Laux had another dominant start against Griffith, as he pitched 5.2 innings of two-run ball, striking out six. The runs scored were the first ones he allowed all season, putting his season ERA at 0.87 through 20.2 innings of work.
David Diemling had a rough night for the Generals, as he gave up 11 runs (nine earned) in 4.1 innings of work, failing to strike out any Oilmen. Deimling has often been the victim of poor defense behind him, as only 15 of his 21 runs given up this season have been earned.
Despite the rough look of the box score, the Generals coaching tandem of Peter Romsek and Ryan Jemar were happy with the effort brought forth tonight with limited availability. Deimling made his first start of the season, and he recorded a good number of outs for the Generals.
“That’s what he needed to do,” remarked pitching coach Ryan Jemar on Deimling’s workload. “I told him, ‘Throw the ball, make them hit it.’” The Oilmen tallied nine hits against the Generals starter.
“It was the free stuff that killed us,” stated Romsek after the loss. “We hit right with them, but we gave them too many free things. I thought ABs-wise, really good up and down. A better ball game.” Nic Altobelli continued his hot hitting stretch, going 2-4 with an RBI. Max Waszkiewicz also had an impressive double off the elevated brick wall in straightaway left field, going 2-4.
The Generals return to action against the Vikings tomorrow at 5 p.m. at the lightless Dowling Park. The summer solstice could provide a longer matchup this time around, as the first one was cut short after eight innings due to darkness.
