Grafton, WI – The Lakeshore Chinooks have announced the signing of three more pitchers, including a mainstay from 2016. Cole Gnetz (Miami-Ohio), Keith Kutzler (St. Louis), and Brendan McGuigan (Richmond) will each look to have a bounce back summer and build confidence in the Northwoods.
Cole Gnetz was a solid workhorse for the Chinooks last summer after a freshman season at Miami where he was named Second-Team All-MAC and was tabbed a Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American as a result of his 3.75 ERA and a 4-2 record and leading his team with 67 strikeouts in 69.2 innings. Gnetz finished third on the Chinooks with 52.2 innings in a team-high eleven starts, including the team’s first round playoff loss at Wisconsin Rapids. After a trying sophomore season, Gnetz will look to get back on track in a familiar setting with a familiar coach in Eddy Morgan.
Keith Kutzler returns home to Wisconsin after his freshman season with the Billikens where he pitched with Chinook teammates Luke Sommerfeld and Aaron Patton. The 6’4 right-hander was a standout pitcher for Kenosha Tremper where he was rated by Prep Baseball Report as the 17th-ranked player in Wisconsin.
Brendan McGuigan is an experience right-hander who struck out 41 batters in 47.1 innings as a freshman for the Spiders in 2015, but saw his sophomore season come to a quick end after going just two innings before an elbow injury cost him his season. A former Texas All-Region player from Austin, TX, McGuigan has battled back from the injury to return to the mound this season.
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, group tickets, and single game tickets are all currently on sale. 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.