FOND DU LAC, WI – The Lakeshore Chinooks used four runs in the first two innings to hold off the Fond du Lac Dock Spiders in an 8-5 Fond du Lac loss on Thursday night at Kapco Park.
The loss saw the Dock Spiders fall to 23-21 overall and 4-6 in the second half. The Chinooks leapfrogged the Dock Spiders in the Great Lakes West Division overall standings with the win, improving to 24-21 overall and 6-3 in the second half. The Chinooks now sit a half-game ahead of the Dock Spiders for second place in the overall standings, which will determine the final playoff spot if the Wisconsin Rapids Rafters win the second half division title.
The Chinooks got to Dock Spiders starter Trey Seeley (Cypress) early, scoring three in the first and one in the second to take an early 4-0 lead. All three runs in the first came off a bases-clearing double from Joey Spence (Notre Dame), and an RBI single from Michael Seegers (Iowa) in the second.
The Dock Spiders would strike back for three runs in the third to cut the deficit to one. Alberto Rios (Stanford) singled home two before Andrew Sojka (CSUN) extended his hit streak to six straight with an RBI single to bring home the final run of the inning.
In the fourth, the Chinooks would jump back on the board in three straight innings with an RBI single in the fourth, an RBI groundout in the fifth and a two-run home run from Stephen Hrustich (Northwestern) in the sixth to extend the lead to 8-4.
The Dock Spiders would fight back in the ninth with a little league home run from Tyeler Hawkins (Louisville), who scored after a throwing error brought him home from second immediately after a double.
All five Dock Spiders runs were unearned, but they tallied just the third run allowed by Chinooks reliever Mitch Mueller (Parkland CC) in his 11 appearances this year.
Seeley (0-1) took the loss in his first start of the summer while Jackson Reid (3-0, Lenoir-Rhyne) earned the win for Lakeshore.
The Dock Spiders and Chinooks will meet at Herr-Baker Field on Friday night with first pitch scheduled for 6:35 p.m.
The Fond du Lac Dock Spiders are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. The Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. Having completed its’ 28th season, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 22 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, over 280 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including three-time All-Star and 2016 Roberto Clemente Award winner Curtis Granderson, three-time Cy Young Award winner and World Series Champion Max Scherzer (NYM), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist and Brandon Crawford (SFG) and World Series Champion Chris Sale (BOS). As well as 2019 Rookie of the Year and 2019/2021 Home Run Derby Champion Pete Alonso (NYM) and 2021 All-Star, MLB Gold Glove winner and 2019 Second Team All-MLB shortstop Marcus Semien (TEX). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League website. League games are viewable live at watchnwl.com. For more information, visit dockspiders.com download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play and set the Dock Spiders as your favorite team.