Carol Stream, Ill. – May 24, 2022
The Southland Vikings (1-1) were defeated in their first road game of the season against the Joliet Generals (1-1) at Lee Pfund Stadium on Tuesday by a score of 6-3.
“It wasn’t bad, we had a lot of spread-out hits,” said Vikings assistant Scott Nowakowski on the team’s offensive performance. “We just couldn’t get back-to-back hits to get runners in…we just couldn’t follow up with a hit when we needed it.”
The Viking offense was shut down through the first five innings, being held to six hits while stranding six runners.
But, the Vikings broke through in the top of the sixth inning. Chris McDevitt led off the inning with his second hit-by-pitch of the contest and now has five walks/hit-by-pitches on the season. He would score later in the inning on a fielder’s choice.
The Vikings would continue to cut the deficit in the seventh by scoring twice. Outfielder Kyle Fenner hit a one-out, ground-rule double to left field and would score in the next at-bat when A.J. Taylor hit a little league home run. Taylor smashed a triple into the left-center field gap and would score on an overthrow at third base, giving the Vikings a sign of hope in their final go with the sticks. However, their efforts would fall short.
“We ended the game well,” Nowakowski said. “We hustled throughout the whole game until the last out. We started hitting more consistently at the end [of the game], and we’ll carry that over into tomorrow.”
The Vikings will look to bounce back on Wednesday when they return to Dowling Park for their first meeting of the season with the Northwest Indiana Oilmen. First pitch is scheduled for 5 p.m.
