Mequon, WI – After a long road trip, the Lakeshore Chinooks finally returned home on Wednesday. The team took on the Kenosha Kingfish in Kenosha on Wednesday morning, losing 4-0, and then the two clubs traveled to Mequon for a night game. After being stagnant the last few days, the Chinooks offense came alive in this one, but it was not enough as they were defeated by Kenosha 8-7. 

The Chinooks were shut out by Kenosha in both of their past two games, and they ensured that did not happen again as they jumped out to a quick lead in the bottom of the first. Facing Kingfish starter Mario Samuel (UW-Parkside), leadoff hitter Anthony Massicci (Canisius) reached via a walk. He later stole second and advanced to third on a balk before scoring on a Doug Kraeger (Richmond) single. The team added their second run of the frame thanks to Lucas Raley (Lake Erie College), who drove in his league-leading 37th run of the season with a single that brought home Colby Fitch (Louisville).

After being held scoreless in the second, the team extended their lead with two more runs in the third. Zarley Zalewski (Kent State) reached base after an error from third baseman Alex Borglin (Central Michigan) to begin the inning. The next two batters were retired, but then Raley singled and Mark Kolozsvary (Florida) walked to load the bases. That chased Samuel from the game as the Kingfish elected to bring in Trevor Hass (Valparaiso) to get out of the jam. Hass allowed a single to Greg Deichmann (Louisiana State), however, allowing Zalewski and Raley to score to make it 4-0. 

Kevin Long (Lehigh) made his fourth start for the Chinooks. He looked great through the first five innings, not giving up a run, but he ran into trouble in the six. The Kingfish hit a sacrifice fly off the bat of Alex Dunlap (Stanford) for the first run of the frame and added two more on a two-RBI single from Pat McInerney (Illinois), making it a 4-3 game. 

With two outs in the inning and the bases loaded, Long was pulled from the game in favor of reliever Connor Jones (Georgia). Jones hit Zach Weigel (Ohio State) with a pitch, bringing in McInerney to tie the game. He then walked Borglin, this time scoring Jason Scholl (Eastern Illinois) to give the Kingfish the lead. Long was ultimately charged with all five runs.

The Chinooks came back to regain the lead the bottom of the seventh. Fitch hit a long double to deep left-center field to start the inning, and Kraeger followed up with a double of his own to bring in Fitch. After Raley reached base on a fielder's choice that retired Kraeger, he was plated on an RBI triple from Kolozsvary, giving the Chinooks a 6-5 lead.

The team added an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth inning. Drake Parker (Vanderbilt) walked to start off the inning, and he later come in to score thanks to a single from Zalewski.

Jones settled down after his shaky sixth inning. He tossed the seventh and eighth innings without giving up a run, bringing him to a total of 2.1 innings pitched. Jones was not charged with a run and did not allow a hit in his outing while striking out one. 

Andrew Shaps (Arizona State) was brought on to relieve Jones in the ninth in a save opportunity. He gave up a run in the frame and got one out before Morgan again went to the bullpen, this time bringing in Jack Landwehr (Illinois State). Landwehr proceeded to load the bases, however, and then gave up a two-RBI single to Grayson Byrd (Louisiana State) to give the Kingfish a one-run lead. 

The Chinooks offense put a man on third in the bottom of the ninth but could not bring him home as they fell by a final score of 8-7. The team stays at home on Thursday to take on the La Crosse Loggers in a resumed game at 4:35 before playing a full game upon the conclusion of the first. 

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 (WSH) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (CWS), Jordan Zimmermann (WSH), Curtis Granderson (NYM), Lucas Duda (NYM) and Ben Zobrist (OAK).  All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League portal. For more information visit www.lakeshorechinooks.com.