Latest News

Published On: July 18th, 2015

Mequon, WI – The Lakeshore Chinooks traveled to Madison to take on the Mallards on Thursday, but thanks to rain the teams only completed one and a half innings before play was suspended. The two teams resumed this game on Friday, and their regularly scheduled game was played right afterwards and was shortened to seven innings. 

Game One: Madison Mallards 6, Lakeshore Chinooks 5

The Chinooks plated two runs in the first in this one thanks to an RBI single from Eric Fasnacht (Concordia- St. Paul) and an RBI fielder's choice off the bat of Doug Kraeger (Richmond). Lake Bachar (UW- Whitewater) threw a scoreless first inning and walked the first batter he faced in the second before rain suspended play. 

The Chinooks and Mallards picked things up right there on Friday. Lakeshore managed to widen their lead in the top of the third. Fasnacht lead off the frame with a double and would later come around to score. 

When the game was resumed, Chinooks manager Eddy Morgan elected to send Bachar back out to the mound. The Mallards closed the gap off of him in the third, scoring a run of their own in the bottom of the inning. Jonathan Quintana (Barry University) smacked a single off of Bachar to begin the inning, and he made it a 3-1 ballgame by scoring on a Cameron Frost (Washington State) ground out. Unfortunately for Bachar, that was just the start of the damage. 

Back out in the fourth, a Chinooks' mistake cost them dearly. Jean Ramirez (Illinois State) reached to begin the inning on an error by shortstop Anthony Massicci (Canisius). Tony Butler (Madison College) later singled, but Lakeshore managed to get two outs and would have been out of the inning had Massicci made the play. However, Madison made Bachar pay as Quintana smacked a three-run home run, giving the Mallards a one-run lead. 

Madison extended their lead in the fifth, this time when Ramirez hit a two-run shot off of Bachar. That would be Bachar's last batter of the game as he was pulled after pitching 4.2 innings and giving up six runs, three earned, while walking three and striking out four. He would be replaced by Connor Jones (Georgia). 

Jones did keep the Madison offense at bay. He fired 2.1 scoreless innings in his outing, working around two hits and three walks to do so. Joe Stoll (Ohio State) was the final reliever used by Morgan in the game as he threw a scoreless eighth to keep his club in it.

The Chinooks put together a rally in the top of the ninth. Kraeger began the inning with a double, and pinch-hitter Lucas Raley (Lake Erie) later doubled to plate Kraeger. The team proceeded to load the bases thanks to walks from Jake Romano (Miami-Ohio) and Drake Parker (Vanderbilt), and another walk drawn by Massicci scored pinch-runner David Edson (USC) and made it a one-run ballgame. Lakeshore had the bases loaded with two outs down by one, but they could not do any further damage as the rally came up short. 

Game Two: Madison 6, Lakeshore 2 (Seven Innings)

Thanks to the fact that the two teams needed to resume Thursday's game, this contest was shortened to seven innings. Zac Lowther (Xavier) received the start for the Chinooks in this one. He held Madison scoreless in the first, but back out in the second, he struggled. Lowther allowed the bases to be loaded with one out after walking three batters, Jason Goldstein (Illinois), Quintana and Butler. The big hit then came off the bat of Anthony Gonsolin (St. Marys College), who hit a double to drive in all three runners. 

The Chinooks did narrow the gap thanks to a two-run third. Massicci began the inning with a leadoff single, and Zarley Zalewski (Kent State) and Raley drew back-to-back walks to load the bases with no outs. A sac fly off the bat of Kraeger scored Massicci to make it a 3-1 game. Then, Romano reached on an error, scoring Zalewski and closing the deficit to one. 

The second was the final inning Lowther would pitch as he was replaced by Jake Tuttle (UW-Milwaukee) in the third. Tuttle held Madison scoreless in his first two innings of work, but he let up two runs in the fifth. The damage came off of the bat of Scott Tyler (Ball State), who belted a two-run home run. Tuttle threw three innings in total, giving up those two runs while striking out four. 

Andrew Shaps (Arizona State) became the final arm that Morgan used in game two. He threw the sixth inning for Lakeshore, giving up a run to make it 6-2. The Chinooks never could bring across another runner as the game held at 6-2. 

The Chinooks now will travel to Eau Claire on Saturday to take on the Express before returning home on Sunday. 

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.