Mequon , WI – Fresh off a 8-6 victory in a 11 inning battle on Thursday, the Lakeshore Chinooks took on the Waterloo Bucks Friday night hoping to continue their winning ways. Unfortunatly, the club found themselves on the losing side of things, dropping the game 7-6.
Zach Spears (Miami-Ohio) had an impressive first start for the Chinooks back on June 4th against Green Bay, pitching 5 innings, with 9 strikeouts while allowing only 2 hits. Spears came out with a solid 3 up 3 down first inning. Second inning Spears gave up his first hit to Adam McGinnis (Western Illinois), followed by a throwing error by Spears advancing McGinnis to second. Ground ball out advances McGinnis over to third followed by an RBI ground out to Chinooks shortstop by Robert Neustrom (Iowa) to score McGinnis from third making it 1-0 Bucks.
Top of the third Kurtis Brown (Richmond) gives the Chinooks some energy after a jumping catch at first base preventing what could have been an extra bases hit. The Chinooks carried that energy into the bottom of the third when Alec Olund (Purdue) gets walked on four straight to get a base runner on with no outs. Royce Ando (Michigan State) followed with a base hit single to right sending Olund to third base. Joe Duncan (Eastern Illinois) with a ground ball to the third baseman, with no play at home the Buck's third baseman took the easy out at first, allowing Olund to score tying the game 1-1.
In the top of the fourth, it was a party after two outs for the Bucks. Jake Hand (Southern Illinois University) hit a base hit to right, followed by Robert Neustrom (Iowa) who hit a slow roller to short to get a hit. A passed ball by Chinooks catchers advances both Bucks runners to second and third with two outs. Alexander drew a walk to load the bases for the Bucks. With two outs Zac Sanders (New Mexico Junior College) hits a triple down the right field line clearing the bases giving the Bucks a 4-1 lead. The two out rally continued for the Bucks when Matthew Paciello (Kirkwood Community College) hits a grounder to Chinooks first baseman who could not field it cleanly and Buck's runner scores from third, giving the Bucks a 5-1 lead.
Top of the fifth Chinooks bring in pitcher Austin Havekost (Kent State) retired the Bucks in order and finished the night with 2 innings, giving up 1 run, 1 hit, 1 walk, and 1 strikeout. Havekost stayed in to pitch during the top of the sixth who gave up an infield single to Jake Hand, following a wild pitch by Havekost allowed Hand to advance to third. Havekost walks Zach Fricke (Iowa) with 1 out. Zac Sanders then grounds to Ando on second who gets Fricke out, but Sanders is safe at first allowing Hand to score from third making it 6-1 Bucks.
Entering the bottom of the sixth the Chinooks had left 9 base runners on base in the game and go scoreless in the inning. Top of the 7th Chinooks bring in relief pitcher Nolan Bond (Houston) who gets the Chinooks out of the inning taking them to the bottom of the seventh. Bucks bring in pitcher Zach Siggelkow (St. Cloud State) and Chinooks bring in designated hitter Alex Woinski (Lafayette) who walks followed by a base hit by Taylor. With runners on first and second and no outs, Sewell comes to the plate and reaches on a fielder's choice, loading the bases with one out. Bucks bring in pitcher Andy Muehlberger (Central Missouri) who hits Senger with a pitch bringing in Woinski making it 6-3 Bucks. Kevin Riley (Chaffey CC) becomes pinch runner for Senger and Alec Olund hits a triple to center field, clearing the bases making it 6-6 Chinooks. Bucks catcher McGinnis, picks Olund off at third to get the 3rd out of the inning.
Top of the eighth Zach Fricke hits a solo home run making it 7-6 Bucks and the Chinooks go scoreless in the bottom of the eighth. Top of ninth Brandon Parr (Madison College) comes into pitch getting the first two batters out and Chris Choles (North Dakota State) comes in to finish the inning for the Chinooks.
Bottom of 9th Bucks bring in Brandon Downey (Maryville University) to get the save a preserve the victory. Chinooks fall short and lose 7-6. The Chinooks will return home Saturday night at 6:35pm to face the Bucks in game two.
The Lakeshore Chinooks are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Playing its 23rd 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 150 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 (DET), Curtis Granderson (NYM), Lucas Duda (NYM) and Ben Zobrist (CHC). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League portal. For more information, visithttp://northwoodsleague.com/lakeshore-chinooks.
