Manteno outmuscled by Illiana Christian, 10-0

The temperature wasn’t the only thing that went cold on Friday as the Manteno Panthers fell to Illiana Christian 10-0 in non-conference play.

Illiana Christian jumped out to a big 8 run lead in bottom of the first inning on 4 hits, one walk and 3 hit batters. Manteno’s only two base runners were right fielder Joey DiLeo and shortstop Kevin Sloat. DiLeo walked in the first inning but was gunned down on a strike-‘em-out, throw-‘em-out to end the inning. Sloat took away the no hitter from Illiana Christian in the top of the fifth with a fly ball to right field. He advanced to second on a wild pitch but first baseman Derrick Hosselton grounded out on a 3-0 pitch to end the game and the Panther’s only serious scoring threat.

The Panthers were without their center fielder J.J. Witherow who went down with an injury in Thursday’s game against Plano.

Jason Morgan (5-2) took the loss for Manteno. He pitched 2 innings, giving up 8 hits and 9 earned runs, issuing one walk and one strike out. Reliever Nate Page gave up 3 hits, one earned run, and struck out 2.

Manteno is now 26-3 on the season and 10-2 in the Interstate 8 Conference. The Panthers will face off against conference rival Herscher next Monday at home. Start time is 4:30 pm