Grafton, WI – The Lakeshore Chinooks will bring back two pitchers who saw limited action for the squad in 2016 but will look to get more innings this summer. Austin Havekost (Kent State University), Zach Spears (Miami University-Ohio) will make the trek from Ohio to join Eddy Morgan's pitching staff for 2017.
Austin Havekost sat out his freshman season for Kent State in 2016 and slowly worked his way into pitching form for the Chinooks last year as he made ten appearances, including three starts late in the team’s playoff push. The burly right-hander from Seville, OH posted a 5.53 ERA in 26 innings and struck out 19 while walking 15. This season in his first appearance for the Golden Flashes, Havekost went four scoreless innings to earn a save against Radford on March 3.
Zach Spear’s first stint with the Chinooks came to an abrupt end after suffering a biceps injury. Eddy Morgan saw potential in the strong lefty from Greenfield, IN who got a complete game win in a 2-1 Chinooks victory over Green Bay in a June 4th game that was shortened to five innings when fog engulfed Kapco Park. Spears made two total appearances for nine innings in which he struck out eleven and walked six after a freshman season for the Miami RedHawks in which he led the team with 70 innings and was second with 59 strikeouts. Spears should work as a weekend starter this season as Miami looks to once again contend for the MAC title in 2017.
You can catch your first glimpse of the 2017 Chinooks roster on Saturday, June 3rd when Lakeshore takes on the Wisconsin Rapids Rafters at 6:35pm at Kapco Park. Season tickets, mini game packages, and group tickets are all currently on sale. Single game tickets go on sale to the public in early May. For tickets and more information, call 262-618-4659 or visit lakeshorechinooks.com.
The Lakeshore Chinooks are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. The 23-year-old summer collegiate league is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 20 teams, drawing significantly more fans, in a friendly ballpark experience, than any league of its kind. A valuable training ground for coaches, umpires and front office staff, more than 160 former Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including two-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champion Ben Zobrist (CHC) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (BOS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET), Curtis Granderson (NYM) and Lucas Duda (NYM). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League portal. For more information, visit www.lakeshorechinooks.com or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play and set the Chinooks as your favorite team.