Oilmen outfielder Alec Olund said he has no idea what to expect this weekend.
“The biggest thing for us will be the atmosphere in the crowd,” the 2014 Lake Central graduate said. “They’re going to bring out a lot of people to see these guys.”
Oilmen manager Adam Enright said he had no insight, either.
“I know nothing,” he said while shaking his head. “I was trying to find some information, but there was nothing to find.”
Olund and Enright were referring to the Serbian baseball national team, which travels to Whiting this weekend for a three-game exhibition series against the Oilmen beginning Friday night at Oil City Stadium.
The series is part of a weeklong visit by the Serbian national team. It also will play a game Tuesday against the Midwest Collegiate League All-Stars at Oil City Stadium.
“This will be the first time any of the Serbian national team has come to the U.S.,” Serbian national team assistant coach Nikola Vucevic said. “The opportunity to play games against American teams in the U.S. is a dream for most Serbian players.”
The primary baseball league in Serbia is the Baseball Alliance of Serbia, which boasts 14 teams and about 300 players, ranging in age from under-14 to adult. All of the players on the Serbian national team come from that league.
Not knowing the skill level of the Oilmen opponent, Enright said he’s preparing his team for anything.
“In Game 1, we’ll put the best lineup out there and see where it goes,” he said. “We’ll definitely have all of our best arms available for that first game.”
Enright said the two most frequent questions he’s fielded from his players are: Do they speak English and how old are they?
“It’s something they’ve never really experienced before,” Enright said.
Olund said he’s expecting a big turnout of fans, but they may not be cheering for the home team. He recently ran into a high school friend with Serbian roots who mentioned the upcoming series.
“He has no affiliation with baseball, but he was the one who brought it up,” Olund said. “Just to see a different culture and how they play the game, that’ll be different.”
Games are scheduled for 7:10 p.m. Friday, 5:30 p.m. Saturday and 4 p.m. Sunday.
The Oilmen sit in second place in the MCL standings. The weekend exhibitions, followed by a day off on Monday and the MCL All-Star Game on Tuesday, gives players a chance to prepare for next month’s playoffs.
“We’re going to use this week to set up our pitching to lead us into the postseason the way we want it to line up,” Enright said.
Dave Melton is a freelance writer for the Post-Tribune.
