The story so far this year for the first-place Bloomington Bobcats has been pitching. Through the first six games, the Bobcats have a combined 1.29 ERA. That mark is first place in the league by a long shot; the NWI Oilmen are second with a 3.32 ERA. Mitch Weis (Illinois State / Ballwin, Mo.) continues to impress early on for Bloomington as he has now pitched 14 consecutive scoreless innings to start the year. He also leads the league in strikeouts with 15 and has a 5.71 WHIP. The Bobcats have been lead offensively by Garrett Shea as he is batting .333 in 21 at-bats.

The Oilmen started out cold, but are finally starting to find their stroke after obliterating Joliet 13-3 Sunday afternoon. Stefano Belmonte (Florida Gulf Coast / Munster, Ind.) tallied four hits in just as many at-bats, along with three RBIs and one run scored. Richard Yelnick (Trinity Christian / New Lenox, Ill.) pitched five solid innings, allowing two runs. The Oilmen start a month long homestand Tuesday night against the Michigan City Lakers.

There have only been six home runs hit this year, however, DuPage County’s Brandon Post (Lewis University / Elk Grove Village, Ill.) has hit two of those along with a .400 AVG, 1.208 OPS and eight RBIs.

As this week progresses, watch for the Oilmen to dig themselves out of the hole they have dug themselves into. They will need definitely need their bats to wake up as they are batting just .257 through the first eight games, but then again, they have only played eight games. The bats are bound to wake up eventually, the only concern is if they will constantly be there.