Baseball

Joliet, Ill. – August 4, 2021 – After Crestwood took both games against Joliet this week, it is more than likely they will meet in the first round of the MCL Playoffs next week.

The Joliet Generals (23-14) lost their second in a row to the Crestwood Panthers (21-18) 5-3 on Wednesday night at Lee Pfund Stadium in Carol Stream, Ill.

“We gotta come out ready to go and strike in the early innings,” manager Joe Silva said. “We made a couple of mistakes in the early innings, but I have to appreciate the fight they gave all nine innings.”

Nick Vollmert (St. Ambrose / Crystal Lake, Ill.) started out strong on the mound, striking out the first three Panthers of the ball game. However, Vollmert received the loss, allowing four earned runs in four innings of work. He struck out seven on the night. Drake Berman (Benedictine / Wauconda, Ill.) and Blake Schallenbarger (Rockford / Woodstock, Ill.) combined for five innings of scoreless relief, surrendering just two hits total.

Brandon Matias (Oakton / Glenview, Ill.) and Christian Seegers (Oakton / Schaumburg, Ill.) both doubled, and Jack Enright (Loras / Chicago, Ill.) singled to round out the Joliet hit total. Matias leads all Generals with seven doubles, and Seegers falls right behind him with six.

“We can’t look too far ahead to the playoffs, we got two more games ahead of us,” Silva said. “The Minutemen always give us a good fight and we have the Oilmen at their place, so it doesn’t get any easier, but we’ve been battling adversity all year long.”

What’s Next?

The Generals head to Prairie State College on Thursday evening to take on the MCL Minutemen (8-27) at 5:05 p.m.