On Wednesday night, the Lakeshore Chinooks took on the Madison Mallards in game three to see who would battle the Duluth Huskies for the crown. The Chinooks recorded single runs in the 3rd and 5th inning to take an early 2-0 lead. The Mallards rallied in the 8th inning to tie the game 2-2. But Lakeshore answered right back in the bottom of the 8th inning giving the Chinooks a 3-2 lead heading into the 9th inning. Madison then took matters into their own hands and launched a three run home run to give the Mallards the 5-3 victory.
The Mallards were threatening the first three innings, but the Chinooks struck first in the bottom of the 3rd inning. Travis Enger (St. Cloud State) was hit by a pitch and Cody Bobbit (Wichita State) forced a walk for Andrew Stevenson (LSU) who flared an RBI single to left field giving Lakeshore an early 1-0 lead.
Lakeshore tacked on another run in the bottom of the 5th inning. Sawyer Polen (Kent State) led the inning off with a triple that was misplayed by Mallards center fielder. Cody Bobbit then lifted an RBI sacrifice fly pushing the Chinook lead to 2-0.
The Madison Mallards did not go down with-out a fight. With two outs in the top of the 8th inning, Joe McCarthy ripped a two RBI single to right field to knot the game 2-2.
The Chinooks bounced right back in the bottom of the 8th inning. Lakeshore loaded the bases for Chris Manning (Valparaiso) who drove an RBI sacrifice fly to center field to take a 3-2 advantage.
Madison wanted the win and showed it in the top of the 9th inning. With two men on, Alex Bacon launched a three run home run over the left field wall to give the Mallards the 5-3 win.
Chinooks starter Donnie Hissa (Notre Dame) pitched six strong innings giving up no runs on five hits and recording four strikeouts.
The Lakeshore Chinooks season has come to a close, but this was one memorable season. Eddy Morgan stated, “I am very proud of these young men. These guys really sacrificed a lot to come here, they did a tremendous job of going to work every day ready to play. The best part of this is these men.” We would like to thank all of our fans that supported us through the 2013 season!
