The Crestwood Panthers took home their second win of the week over the Chicago American Giants at Marian Catholic High School in Chicago Heights, Illinois.
After falling behind 1-0 early, the Panthers scored five unanswered runs with one run each in the second, fourth, and fifth innings, and two runs in the third. The Giants came back with three runs in the seventh inning, and they moved the tying run all the way to third in the ninth. However, a nice defensive play by Anthony Aranda from the mound sealed the Panthers 5-4 win.
Peter Fusek carried the torch on offense for the Panthers with a two hit day including a go-ahead RBI triple in the third inning and a solo home run in the fifth. Fusek also scored on an error in the third inning on a Hobbs Dunne ground ball to second baseman Trey Hodges.
Alex Las also added an RBI on an RBI groundout in the second inning, and Ray Hilbrich added another home run in the fourth inning. Head coach D’Vante Glenn loved to see the power come out with three of Crestwood’s runs scoring on extra base hits.
“We’ve always believed we’ve had [the power].” Glenn said, “It’s good to see them be able to execute.”
On the mound, Charlie Faoro earned his first win on the season striking out 11 Giants over 5.2 innings giving up three earned runs (four total runs). Newcomer Aranda pitched the final 3.1 innings of three hit, shutout baseball to earn the save.
Add to that, the Panthers pitching staff combined to give up zero walks aside from an intentional walk in the ninth inning. Glenn was ecstatic with the effort he got from both pitchers today.
“Our guys went out there, and they battled,” Glenn said, “It was great to see them focus and lock in and be able to fight the way they did.”
The Panthers play next on Thursday at 5 p.m. against the Lake County Corn Dogs at Marian Catholic High School. It will be the first time the Panthers host the Corn Dogs this season. The Panthers lost the only meeting between these two team thus far 4-2 on June 15.
For the full box score, visit the Northern League Pointstreak page: http://baseball.pointstreak.com/boxscore.html?gameid=577396