The Serbian National Baseball Team played the fourth and final game of its USA tour Tuesday at Oil City Stadium. After three games against the Northwest Indiana Oilmen over the weekend, the MCL All-Stars played the Serbians in the finale and took a 14-3 win.
The MCL All-Stars got on the scoreboard early and often, scoring at least one run in each of the first six innings of the game. The DuPage County Hounds’ Tristan Welch, the MCL’s leader in RBIs and home runs, continued showed why he is the favorite to win the MCL MVP Award with a solo home run in the bottom of the first inning. In the second, the Northwest Indiana Oilmen’s Tyler Sroczynski drove in two more runs with a double and the Hounds’ Austin Tittle later scored on a wild pitch.
The Serbians struggled on offense against the best pitching the MCL had to offer. The Serbian National Team didn’t put a runner in scoring position until the third inning, when a throwing error by Austin Tittle scored Conor Moroder. The Serbians only had four hits in the game.
“I think it was just a big learning experience for them,” Coach Adam Enright of the Northwest Indiana Oilmen said. “They’re going to play in the European Championship, so it’s good for them just to get their bats against better pitching and just see the game at a faster pace. It’s going to be very beneficial. Even though the outcome wasn’t very good, just seeing baseball at a higher level is going to help with that.”
The MCL All-Stars scored 10 more runs in the next four innings, effectively making the game a blowout. The MCL scored 14 runs on 19 hits. The Serbian National Team made three errors in the field to go with its three runs and four hits. The Serbians finish 0-4 at Oil City Stadium. They fly back to Belgrade Saturday morning to prepare for Tournament play at the end of the month.
To view the Box Score from tonight’s game, click on “Download Attachment”