Krill and Chinooks Stomp Bombers 9-2 to Push Win Streak to 4 Games

The Lakeshore Chinooks came back to Kapco Park riding a three game winning streak and sitting on top of the South Division tied with the La Crosse Loggers. Tonight the Chinooks battled the Battle Creek Bombers who are right behind the Chinooks in the division making this three game series extremely important to both clubs.

The Chinooks started the scoring in the bottom of the 1^st inning. After a lead-off walk and stolen base by Chris Manning (Valparaiso) and a base hit by Sawyer Polen (Kent State) put runners on the corners and no outs. Polen continued to draw throws over at first base and as the Bombers first baseman swiped in attempt to tag out Polen, the ball flew out of his glove resulting in Manning to head for home and take a 1-0 lead. Polen then stole his way to third base putting him in scoring position. After a Ryan Krill (MSU) walk, Jerrick Suiter (TCU) came to the plate bringing in Polen with an RBI sacrifice fly to right field. The Chinooks took an early 2-0 lead after the 1^st inning.

The Chinooks struck again in the bottom of the 3^rd inning. After Brant Valach (Eastern Illinois) reached on an error, Ryan Krill launched a two-run home run over the right field wall giving the Chinooks a 4-0 lead. Suiter followed up reaching on an error, stealing second base and finally advancing to third base on a fielder’s choice. With two outs, Mike Hollenbeck (Illinois State) hit a slicing double to left-center to bring home Suiter and increased the lead to 5-0 after 3 innings. The Bombers starting pitcher’s night came to a close after 3 innings of work.

The Chinooks ran into trouble in the top of the 6^th inning. The Bombers reached on a single and executed a hit-and-run resulting in runners on the corners and one out. The Bombers scored their first run of the game on a sacrifice fly to center field making the score 5-1 after the top of the 6^th.

After a lead of single by Hollenbeck in the bottom of the 6^th inning, Manning crushed an RBI double to left-center bringing in Hollenbeck from first base bringing back the 5 run lead. The Chinooks did not stop there, with runners on the corners, Valach sacrificed himself with an infield ground ball knocking in Manning to make the score 7-1. With already one home run on the night, Ryan Krill came up and launched his second two run home run of the game giving the Chinooks a 9-1 lead.

The Bombers tried to stir some runs up in the top of the 8^th inning having runners on 2^nd and 3^rd, but the Chinooks strong pitching of Mitchell Sewald (LSU) silenced the Bombers once again.

After the Bombers scored one run in the bottom of the 9^th inning, the Chinooks ended the game with a final score of 9-2.

Chinooks starter Joe Greenfield (Eastern Illinois) who was recently selected by the Minnesota Twins in the 36^th round in the MLB Draft, shut down the Bombers bats going six strong innings giving up one run on three hits and striking out six. Greenfield took control of the game putting the Chinooks in good shape for another victory. The Chinooks defense helped Greenfield along the way with big plays from shortstop Sawyer Polen and third baseman Brant Valach making life hard for the Bombers.

Ryan Krill commented on his big night stating, “I felt comfortable in the box and hopefully I can keep it up.” Krill also commented on the Chinooks current winning streak of four games, “We are getting good outings from our pitchers every start and our hitters are bringing in enough runs to get the W.”  Krill had 4 RBI’s with 2 home runs and a walk.

The division leading Chinooks (11-6) are back at Kapco Park Saturday, June 15^th as they are set to take on the Bombers in the second game of a three game series. Saturday is Man of Steel Night presented by Marcus Theatres, Superman will be making an appearance and fans have a chance to win free movie passes to Marcus Theatres.