It Takes 12 to Push the Streak to 8 Games: Chinooks Beat Loggers 10-9

The Lakeshore Chinooks battled the La Crosse Loggers on Tuesday night at Kapco Park. After a low scoring game Monday night, the Loggers brought home a run in the 1^st followed by the Chinooks bringing home two in the 2^nd. La Crosse looked to take a commanding lead after a grand slam in the 3^rd inning but a five run 8^th inning for Lakeshore looked to have the game locked up at 9-6. The Loggers were down to their final out in the top of the 9^th inning and tied the game up with a 3 run home run to force extra innings. After back-and-forth in the 10^th and 11^th, the Chinooks ended the game in the bottom of the 12^th with a 10-9 victory and push the win streak to 8 games.

The Loggers jumped on the Chinooks in the top of the 1^st inning. After the lead-off batter reached on error, DeFazio lined an RBI triple resulting in an early 1-0 lead for La Crosse.

The Chinooks bounced back in the bottom of the 2^nd inning. With two outs in the inning, they loaded the bases after back to back singles by Sawyer Polen (Kent State) and Cody Bobbit (Wichita State) and Jared Fon (UW-Whitewater) reached base after being hit by a pitch. Lead-off man Chris Manning (Valparaiso) then approached the plate and ripped a two RBI single to right field making the score 2-1.  

La Crosse came back with a strong 3^rd inning. The first two batters reached on singles but after two outs they loaded the bases after a walk. Zack Rivera came up to the plate looking to do some damage and he launched a grand slam over the center field wall making the score 5-2.

The Chinooks began to battle back when Mike Papi (Virginia) swung at the first pitch of the bottom of the 5^th inning and sent a bomb over the right field wall to make the score 5-3.

The Loggers jumped on the Chinooks early in the 6^th inning putting runners on the corners with no outs. A sacrifice fly brought home another run for the Loggers but the Chinooks were able to double off the runner advancing to second leading to a fast half-inning making the score 6-3.

Harrison Bader (Florida) led off the bottom of the 7^th with a double followed by a Papi walk attempting to spark a comeback. After a tough double play, Mike Hollenbeck (Illinois State) knocked in Bader with an RBI single to left field cutting the Loggers lead to 6-4.

Once again Polen, Bobbit, and Fon loaded the bases in the bottom of the 8^th inning with no outs. After three balls, the fourth pitch hit Chris Manning pushing the score to 6-5. After a pitching change, Bader came to the plate and hit a towering 2 RBI double to dead center field resulting in a 7-6 lead for Lakeshore. Mike Papi then knocked two more runs in with a single up the middle to bust open the game 9-6.

The Loggers did not want to go down without a fight. What looked to be a quick inning with the Chinooks forcing a double play, La Crosse put two runners on and then launched a three run home run over the right field wall resulting in a 9-9 game and extra innings.

After both teams stranded runners in the 10^th and 11^th, Harrison Bader launched his third double of the night to start off the bottom of the 12^th. Mike Hollenbeck flared a deep shot that continued to carry and ultimately fell to secure a 10-9 victory and push the streak to 8 games in a row.

Chinooks starter Kyle Bouman (St. Louis) went six innings giving up six runs on nine hits and four strike outs.

The Lakeshore Chinooks (6-0) will return to Kapco Park Wednesday, July 10^th to start a two game set with the Eau Claire Express. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 PM. The first 1,000 fans in attendance will receive a Chinooks logo baseball. The Highland House concert series will also continue prior to the game.