Baseball

Joliet, Ill. – June 7, 2021 – In a season where the Generals have delivered the pain in the late innings, they held no mercy for the Northwest Indiana Oilmen on Wednesday night.

The Generals (5-2) held on for another dramatic victory, this time over the Northwest Indiana Oilmen (3-2), 9-7 at Oil City Stadium on Wednesday night in Whiting, Ind.

Jack Bell (Western Illinois / Minooka, Ill.) snowballed his near-perfect start last week against Crestwood into another solid start on Wednesday. Bell threw five complete innings this time around, striking out a whopping nine Oilmen and allowing three runs on five hits. Bell positioned himself for a win, but received no decision.

"[He is] an ultimate competitor," manager Joe Silva said. "He's a strike thrower. It was great to go out there and see him do his thing."

The offense exploded to a 13-hit performance, spearheaded by third baseman Bryce Vincent (Concordia-Chicago / Algonquin, Ill.) and designated hitter Brennan Fisher (Quincy / Westchester, Ill.). Vincent delivered the Generals’ best single-game performance of the year offensively, hitting safely four times (one double), and scoring once. Fisher singled twice, driving in three runs, and scoring one himself.

"All of us had a lot of confidence at the plate," Vincent said. "It was a lot of fun to both play defense for [Bell] and go up to the plate for him."

Generals with multiple hits were Andrew DeMatteo (Ripon / Orland Park, Ill.), Michael Gould (Maryville / Naperville, Ill.), and Andrew Smart (Oakton / Evanston, Ill.), who also had an RBI in his Generals debut.

The most pivotal moment of the game came when the Generals trailed briefly in the ninth inning, up until Ryan Kiolbassa (Lake Land / Hoffman Estates, Ill.) regained the lead for the Generals with a two-RBI single thanks to aggressive base running from Fisher and Joe Virruso (South Suburban / Oak Lawn, Ill.).

Noah Jordan (Elmhurst / Bismarck, Ill.) recorded his first win of the season, and still has yet to allow a run in five innings pitched. Christian Jacob (Concordia-Chicago / Scottsdale, Ariz) relieved Bell in the middle innings, and Clay Goodwin (Rockford / St. Francisville, Ill.) made his Generals debut.

What’s Next

The Generals head to Dowling Park to face off against the Southland Vikings (3-5) on Thursday at 5:05 p.m.