Mequon, WI – The Lakeshore Chinooks had a mostly successful four-game road trip to Wisconsin Rapids and La Crosse, riding a hot offense to winning three out of four games. The team returned home on Monday to take on the Battle Creek Bombers, but they came up just short in a 4-3 loss. 

The Chinooks opened up the scoring in the bottom half of the second. That came courtesy of Doug Kraeger (Richmond), who hit a solo shot over the left-center field wall. It was his seventh home run of the year, good for second among Lakeshore hitters. 

The club extended their lead with two more in the third. Anthony Massicci (Canisius) reached base after being hit by a pitch, and he proceeded to steal second. Massicci then came around to score when Lucas Raley (Lake Erie College) reached base on an error made by second baseman Josh Smith (Grand Valley State). Raley advanced to second on a walk drawn by Kraeger, and both runners advanced on a passed ball. Colby Fitch (Louisville) proceeded to bring home Raley with a sacrifice fly, making it a 3-0 game.  

The Bombers narrowed the gap with a run in the top of the fifth. Facing Lakeshore starter John Schreiber (Kent State), Christian Helsel (Penn State) drew a leadoff walk. He then advanced to second on a passed ball and reached third when Brennon Lund (BYU) grounded out. Helsel would come in to score thanks to Lin Li (National Taiwan Sports University), who singled him in to take the score to 3-1. 

The fifth was the final inning that Schreiber would pitch. He was charged with just the one run on three hits and two walks while striking out six. Manager Eddy Morgan went to his bullpen for the sixth, bringing on Parker Sanburn (Arkansas) to hold the two-run advantage. He allowed the bases to be loaded with no outs and gave up a run when Niko Pacheco (Cal State Fullerton) grounded into a double play that scored Smith. Another run came around after Cayce Bredlau (Austin Peay) scored on a wild pitch to tie the game at 3-3, and with two outs in the inning and a runner on first, Sanburn was removed in favor of Jake Tuttle (UW-Milwaukee), who finished off the inning without further damage. 

Tuttle held the Bombers scoreless when coming back out for the seventh, but he gave up the lead in the eighth. Smith smacked a one-out single in the frame, and he would come home on a triple hit by Bredlau to make the score 4-3. 

The Chinooks relieved Tuttle with Andrew Shaps (Arizona) to hold the deficit at one in the top of the ninth. He did his job, keeping the Bombers without a run. However, the Chinooks could not mount a rally and the game finished at 4-3. 

The Chinooks will be off on Tuesday, but eight of the team's players will be traveling to Madison to participate in the Major League Dreams Showcase. Lakeshore and Battle Creek will square off again at Kapco Park on Wednesday.

The Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. The 21 year old summer collegiate 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 120 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (CWS), Jordan Zimmermann (WAS), Curtis Granderson (NYM), Lucas Duda (NYM) and Ben Zobrist (OAK). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League website. For more information, visit www.lakeshorechinooks.com.