Mequon, WI – The Lakeshore Chinooks had a hectic home stand, with three games affected due to fog. They went on the road to Wausau to take on the Woodchucks hoping to return to a sense of normalcy, and while they played a regular nine innings of baseball, the club was defeated by a score of 8-6.

The Chinooks quickly loaded the bases in the top of the first with one out. Jake Romano (Miami-Ohio) and Kyle Fiala (Notre Dame) smacked back-to-back singles to lead off the frame, and Doug Kraeger (Richmond) walked to fill the bases. Kyle Wood (Purdue) did the damage, knocking a base hit to score Romano and Fiala to make it 2-0.  

The Woodchucks narrowed the lead in the bottom half of the inning, scoring a run off of Chinooks starter Gavin Downs (Purdue). Jared Oliva (Arizona) doubled to begin the inning and later came around to score on a groundout by Yusuke Akitoshi (Cal State Northridge) groundout. Akitoshi was involved in the offense again in the bottom of the fourth, this time scoring the tying run on a single from LJ Hatch (Johnson County CC). 

Albee Weiss (Cal State Northridge) gave the Woodchucks the lead with a monster two-run home run in the fourth, also plating Hatch. Oliva then really broke things open in the frame, slapping a three-run homer to make the score 7-2. It was certainly not Downs' best start of the year after he entered this game with a 0.81 ERA. He wound up firing 4.0 innings with seven runs allowed on seven hits and one walk while striking out four.

The Chinooks did come back in the fifth to chip away and narrow the gap to 7-3. Drake Parker (Vanderbilt) walked to start the inning, and he later came around to score on a sacrifice fly from Fiala. The Woochucks came right back to score a run of their own off of reliever Shea Murray (Ohio State) in the fifth, however.

Murray did stay out for another scoreless inning, and then the Chinooks brought in Mike Letkeweciz (Augustana). He worked himself into a jam, but Sterling Koerner (Florida Gulf Cost) bailed him out. Koerner pitched the final inning for his team, ultimately going 1.2 scoreless frames without allow a hit. 

The Chinooks made things a little more interesting in the top of the eighth, plating three runs to make it a two-run contest. Fiala and Lucas Raley (Lake Erie College) both got on base with a single, and Wood drove home three runs with a three-run blast. Ultimately, that was not enough, though, and the score ended with the score 8-6.

The Chinooks will take on the Woodchucks again on Thursday before returning home for a four-game home stand starting on Friday.

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 draws 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 120 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), Lucas Duda (NYM) and Ben Zobrist (TB).  All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League portal. For more information visit www.lakeshorechinooks.com.