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Chicago Heights, Ill. – June 21, 2022 – The Viking offense comes through once again. 

On a blistering day in the suburbs of Chicago, the Southland Vikings (11-7-1) defeated the Crestwood Panthers (10-12) by a score of 13-9. The two sides combined for 22 runs on 25 hits.

The Viking offense once again struck first on an RBI single from Jason Krol, scoring George Bilecki. The RBI would be the first of two on the day for Krol, who would also end up going five-for-five in the contest. 

“Today's performance got me out of the slump, which felt good,” Krol said. “They had some pretty good pitchers and I was just sticking to my approach and looked for a fastball, hit it the other way and everything just worked out.”

Crestwood went on to tie the game in the home half of the second, but that tie score wouldn’t hold for long. Kyle Fenner and George Bilecki executed a double steal of home and second respectively. Bilecki would come around to score on an RBI single by A.J. Taylor, giving the Vikings a two-run advantage. 

However, that lead would not last long as the Panthers added three of their own to take the lead before the Vikings came to bat in the fourth. But the game once again swayed in the Vikings' favor. The ‘Vikes put up four runs on three hits, highlighted by George Bilecki’s three-run homer to right field for his second of the season. 

“I’m just seeing fastballs and I'm sitting fastballs,” Bilecki said. “I'm gonna get a fastball and I'm gonna drive it. I’ve just been lucky enough to drive a couple of good balls.” 

The two squads would proceed to give up runs to each other in the coming frames, however, at the top of the sixth is when the Vikings pulled away for good. Southland put up four runs on four hits, capped off by a Nick Daugherty RBI triple. The triple by Daugherty gave the Vikings an 11-7 lead. 

Although the Panthers would cut the deficit to two in the bottom of the sixth, it ultimately would not matter as Southland would add two insurance runs in the seventh to close out the game, for the team’s sixth straight win.

The Vikings will be back on the road tomorrow as they travel to Crown Point to take on the Lake County Corn Dogs once again. First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m. and will be aired on Facebook Live and the Vikings Radio Network. 

This is Vikings Baseball.

Photo Credit: Isaiah Santiago