Green Bay looks for series split Monday night at Kapco Park
Mequon, Wis.- The Green Bay Rockers fell to the Lakeshore Chinooks 6-5 Sunday afternoon, in the first of a two-game series at Kapco Park to begin the second week of play of the season.
Despite a late rally for the Rockers, Lakeshore used a four-run third inning to take an early lead, giving them the advantage they needed to pull away from the Rockers even with Green Bay scoring the last five runs of the ballgame.
Lakeshore struck first in the bottom of the first inning courtesy of an RBI sacrifice fly from Daniel Pacella (Illinois State), but Chris Naronis (Queens College) limited the Chinooks to just one run through an inning of play, despite having the bases loaded.
After the Rockers went scoreless in the second, Naronis struck out all three batters he faced in the bottom half of the frame to keep the Chinooks only up by a run heading into the third inning at Kapco Park.
The Chinooks scored four runs in the bottom of the third off RBIs from Jared Everson (Minnesota) and Ben Hefel (Winona State), extending their lead to 5-0 entering the fourth.
Green Bay remained aggressive at the plate in the fourth inning and got two base runners on in Kyle West (University of Charleston) and Carlos Hernandez (Anderson University), but a strikeout kept the Rockers off the board through four innings of offense.
After a scoreless fourth inning thrown by Tatsuya Uemoto (LIU-Brooklyn), Green Bay turned a 4-6-3 double play, keeping the Chinooks off the board in the fifth with Green Bay down 5-0.
Lakeshore tacked on a sixth run in the bottom of the sixth on an RBI double to left field, as the Chinooks took a 6-0 lead over Green Bay heading into the seventh inning.
Following a scoreless seventh inning on both sides, Hernandez delivered for the Rockers in the eighth, hitting a two-out three-RBI single which cut the Lakeshore lead in half at 6-3.
Mateo Matthews (Wagner College) followed Hernandez up with an RBI triple to make it a 6-4 ballgame entering the ninth, with the Rockers only trailing by two runs.
Green Bay scored once in the ninth on a groundout from Tommy Davis (Oklahoma Wesleyan) but a strikeout ended the game, giving the Chinooks the one-run victory in Mequon.
Green Bay now heads back to Lakeshore to take on the Chinooks Monday night in the second game of the series. First pitch from Kapco Park is set for 6:35 p.m.
Single game tickets are on sale now. Visit www.greenbayrockers.com or call the ticket office at 920-497-7225 to reserve your seats today. The Rockers front office and Team Apparel Fan Shop at Capital Credit Union Park are located at 2231 Holmgren Way in Ashwaubenon. Office hours are Monday-Friday 8:30am-5pm.
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The Green Bay Rockers 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’ 29th season, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 24 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 300 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 and on ESPN+. For more information, visit www.greenbayrockers.com or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play and set the Rockers as your favorite team.