The Chinooks battled their way to a 7-4 win over the Woodchucks on Wednesday, and the team notched their seventh consecutive victory.
“Sometimes baseball is that way, that’s why we play nine,” said Lakeshore Field Manager Eddy Morgan. “Strauss put his in a whole early, but these guys have done a great job here in the beginning of the season.”
Despite 12 strikeouts by Wisconsin pitchers, the Chinooks collected nine hits as a team.
Second-year Lakeshore reliever Luke Lowery (Southern Mississippi) went an impressive four perfect innings and struck out four Woodchucks hitters. Lowery received the win in relief.
Morgan sang his praises of the southpaw. “He did a tremendous job…he came in and threw strikes and did his part,” said Morgan.
The Woodchucks struck early in the first. Chinooks right-hander G.J. Strauss (Florida Tech) surrendered three runs off one hit. He also issued four walks. After one inning, Wisconsin led 3-0.
Wisconsin tacked on one more run in the fourth off Lakeshore reliever Garrett Brummett (Wichita State).
In the same inning, the Chinooks got on the board. Catcher Carter White (Memphis) hit an RBI single that drove in third baseman Michael Morman (Valparaiso).
Three consecutive singles started the fifth inning for the Chinooks. Sterling Koerner (Florida Gulf Coast), Tanner Dearman (Wichita State) and Luke Meeteer (UW-Milwaukee) loaded the bases. Koerner and Dearman both scored on RBI groundouts by Jake Noll (Florida Gulf Coast) and Kyle Wood (Purdue). Morman doubled to left field, which brought Meeteer across to tie the game at four.
The Chinooks took the lead, 5-4, on a wild pitch by Kaylor Chafin in the seventh. Also, in the eighth inning, the team scored on both a wild pitch and an error, making it 7-4 Lakeshore.
Brummett went three innings, giving up one run on a single hit. Andrew Elliot (Wright State) earned the save, striking out the side in the ninth.
The Woodchucks lefty Chafin (0-1) took the loss. He went two innings, and gave up one run on two hits..
The Chinooks finish their series against the Wisconsin Woodchucks on Thursday. They will take on the Wisconsin Rapids Rafters on Friday (7:05 p.m.) and Saturday (6:35 p.m.).
The Lakeshore Chinooks are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Playing its 21st season of summer collegiate baseball, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 18 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, more than 115 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (DET) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (CWS), Jordan Zimmermann (WAS), Curtis Granderson (NYM), Allen Craig (STL) and Ben Zobrist (TB). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League YouTube channel<http://northwoodsleague.com/video/>. For more information, visit www.lakeshorechinooks.com.
