By John Baldridge/Fond du Lac Dock Spiders

MEQUON, WI – A five-run fourth inning lifted Lakeshore over the Dock Spiders on Thursday night at Kapco Park in Mequon, ending in a 5-2 defeat. With the loss, the Dock Spiders moved to 16-27 overall and 3-7 in the second half.

With two outs and no one on in the fourth inning, a single by Dominic Kibler (Kent State) and a double by Mason Schwalbach (Kansas State) brought Vidal Colon (Illinois at Chicago) to bat. Colon hit an inside-the-park home run to deep center field, clearing the bases and making the score 3-0. The next batter, Billy Scaldeferri (Grand Canyon), singled, bringing Connor Hennings (Iowa) to bat. Hennings homered on the pitch he saw to center field, making the score 5-0.

Right-handed pitcher Brandon Brust (Lawrence), who started the game, went two more innings after giving up the five runs. Brust completed 6.0 innings in his first start of the season, allowing seven hits, five runs, no walks, and striking out three.

The Dock Spiders got on the board in the seventh inning with a two-out double to center field from Drew Barragan (Embry-Riddle) that scored two runs and made the score 5-2.

In the eighth inning, the Dock Spiders got a runner in scoring position but weren’t able to do any damage. In the ninth, Fond du Lac went down in order, falling by a final score of 5-2.

The Dock Spiders return home on Friday for the next six games, starting with a doubleheader against Wausau, with the first pitch of game one at 5:05 PM and game two to follow 30 minutes after the conclusion of game one. The first 500 fans on Friday will receive a 2023 Draft Class Card Set Giveaway presented by Real Sportscards. Additionally, stick around after the game for post-game fireworks presented by LEB Insurance Group.

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. Entering its’ 31st season, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 26 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 350 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 (TEX), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist and Brandon Crawford (STL) and World Series Champion Chris Sale (ATL). As well as 2019 Rookie of the Year and 2019/2021 Home Run Derby Champion Pete Alonso (NYM) and 2023 World Series Champion, 2021 and 2023 All-Star, MLB Gold Glove winner, and two-time All-MLB first-team shortstop Marcus Semien (TEX). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League website. League games are viewable live at watchnwl.com and on ESPN+. For more information, visit dockspiders.com or 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