Chicago, Ill.- July 21- A late night showdown was filled with a hitting frenzy and runs galore in an upset win.

The MCL Minutemen (6-17) took home their sixth win of the season to the Joliet Generals (14-10) driving in 11 base hits. 

The Minutemen were the first team to strike on the scoreboard. Doug Loden (Joliet JC/ St. John, Ind.) ripped a double into center field for Mike Kozewski (Cincinnati/ Oak Brook, Ill.) to bring in the first run. Giovanni Lopez (Benedictine Mesa/ St. John, Ind.) kept the line moving with a line drive double out to center field allowing Loden to score the second run. Ryan Nelson (Eastern Kentucky/ Aurora, Ill.) hit a ground ball that reached on an error which allowed Zack Beatty (McBook CC/ Maple Park, Ill.) to bring in the final run of the inning. The Minutemen logged three runs to put them up 3-1 after the first inning

Then the bats really started to heat up for the Minutemen. They drew more blood in the sixth inning. Gino Gazzillo (Joliet JC/ Chicago, Ill.) walked with bases loaded, bringing home Justin Keresets (Northwood/ Loves Park, Ill.) for the fourth run. Nico Pena (Prairie State/ Chicago, Ill.) followed it up with a shot into left field sending Nelson home and keeping the bases loaded. Jimmy Mundo (Carthage/ Palos Heights, Ill.) brought the ball back into left field scoring Brennan Brogni (Illinois Springfield/ Flagstaff, Ariz.) and Gazzillo. The runs weren’t finished coming in yet. Jason Daniels (Waubonsee/ Hammond, Ind.) poked one out into center field to score Pena for the eighth run. Keresets ended the inning with a single into center field to score Mudno for a total of nine runs after six innings of play.

The Minutemen were able to tag on one more run in the seventh. After stealing second and third base, Gavin Callaghan (Joliet JC/ Tinley Park, Ill.) scores on an error for the tenth and final Minutemen run. Manager Deandre Gilmore spoke highly of the team following the win.

“It was a good game. We got really competitive, and we hit the ball really well today,” He said, “It feels good and we know we can go out and compete with the top teams. We just need to do that every game.”

Justin Keresets started in his MCL debut. He went 2-3 with a single and a double. He poured in one RBI and one walk. He also scored a run for the team. Gilmore was very pleased with his new player.

“He was great just like I thought he would be. I thought he was going to be great at the plate, and he’s got a great eye. He got himself into a lot of hitters counts, and he came up clutch with a lot of hits,” Gilmore said.

The Minutemen will look to expand on more wins in their next game against the Chicago American Giants on Thursday July 22. Follow @MclMinutemen on Twitter to keep up with all the latest Minutemen news and updates, and follow @MCLMinutemen on Facebook to catch the live streams of every game.