By Nate Gatter, Broadcast & Media Relations Intern

2016 Woodchucks Highlights. 

The Woodchucks had an exciting 2016 that saw some franchise records tied and broke. Here are some of the top highlights from 2016.

 

May 31: ‘Chucks opened the season with a 6-5 win over Rockford in the Rivets’ first-ever Northwoods League game. Austin Blakeley (Texas A&M-Corpus Christi) launched a grand slam to provide the winning margin.

 

June 21: Steve Passatempo (UMass Lowell) was named Northwoods League Player of the Night after he hit for the cycle in a 9-8 ‘Chucks loss in Duluth. After striking out to start the game, Passatempo homered, tripled, doubled and singled — in that order. Even in the first month of the season, Passatempo had established himself as the Woodchucks’ offensive leader and one of the most feared hitters in the NWL.

 

June 21: During the same game against Duluth, Steele Walker (Oklahoma) went 0-for-5 at the plate and failed to reach base. It marked the second and final game of the year in which Walker would not reach base at least once. In total, he reached in 51 of 53 games played and 45 straight to close out the season. That mark is fifth in NWL history and the streak only concluded because Walker simply ran out of games.

 

July 7: After a franchise-record 13-game losing streak, the ‘Chucks trailed Lakeshore 9-3 after eight innings. Then, they rallied to score seven runs — all with two outs — in the top of the ninth inning and won 10-9. Steve Passatempo and George Janca (Texas A&M) supplied two-run doubles — Janca’s to tie the game — and Chad Fleischman (Lamar) drove in the eventual game-winner.

 

July 12: ‘Chucks took a 4-2 home win over Battle Creek behind six one-hit innings from Jonah Dipoto (UC-San Diego), who set the ‘Chucks single-game high for strikeouts in 2016 when he punched out 12 Bombers. In the third and fourth innings, Dipoto struck out six in a row.

 

July 21: Steve Passatempo’s walk-off hit wins a 6-5 thriller at Athletic Park over Lakeshore. Passatempo supplied two walk-off victories in 2016, the first on a fielder’s choice.

 

July 22: Steele Walker broke the Woodchucks’ franchise record when he extended his hitting streak to 20 games with a first-inning double of Lakeshore’s Marshall Kasowski, who went on to win NWL Pitcher of the Year. Walker finished 5-for-5 to break the previous record of 19 straight that was set by Zach Arnold in 2014. The streak eventually ended at 23 straight after Walker went 0-for-1 with two walks in a rain-shortened game at Rockford. If not for that game, Walker would have hit in 35 straight and broken the league record.

 

July 24: Woodchucks swept a doubleheader in Kenosha, winning both games 7-6. The first required three runs in the top of the seventh (and final) inning, featuring a Jared Oliva RBI triple. Then the ‘Chucks forced Kenosha to leave the bases loaded to end the game. With game two tied 6-6, Steele Walker made a diving catch to end the bottom of the seventh (and final) inning with the potential game-winning run coming around third. Instead, the ‘Chucks won it 7-6 in the eighth after Stevie Mangrum (Virginia Tech) scored on a wild pitch.

 

August 5: Reggie Meyer (Minnesota) threw the first nine-inning complete game of the season for the ‘Chucks, allowing only one run and striking out five in a 10-1 victory over Lakeshore at Athletic Park. Meyer needed only 107 pitchers to complete the win.

 

August 7: Another Woodchucks franchise record fell when the ‘Chucks racked up 22 runs in a 22-7 win over Battle Creek. They rapped out 19 hits — not even the most they collected in a single game that week  — and scored 10 runs or more in two different innings, an unparalleled feat in NWL history.

 

August 14: Not to be bested by his host brother Meyer, Scott Parker (San Francisco) threw the first and only complete game shutout of the season in the Woodchucks’ final game. On just 100 pitches, Parker shut out Kenosha with five strikeouts — despite a couple errors behind him — and the ‘Chucks rolled to a season-ending 7-0 win.

 

August 14: It was a record-setting day at the plate for the ‘Chucks in Kenosha. Steele Walker won the NWL batting title and set a new ‘Chucks record by finishing the season with a .406 batting average. That mark is third in NWL single-season history. Steve Passatempo tied a franchise record with his 61st RBI and broke another by playing in his 71st game of the year.