Mequon, WI – After falling short against the Bucks on Friday, the Chinooks came out swinging in game two on Saturday. However, their efforts would not be enough, as Waterloo battled back to top Lakeshore 7-5 in a come-from-behind victory.
Tyler Hasper (Heartland Community College) got the start on the bump for the Chinooks in his third appearance of the year. Hasper looked to improve from his previous starts, picking up a loss against Kalamazoo on May 31 and a no decision against Green Bay on June 5.
Patrick Boyle (Missouri Baptist) took the mound for the Bucks in his third appearance of the season, hoping to build off his prior performance against Rochester on June 6 in which he was awarded the win after shutting out Rochester in his six innings of work.
Joe Duncan (Eastern Illinois) got things going for the Chinooks in the bottom of the first by hitting a soft fly ball into left that dropped between the Bucks’ fielders for a lead-off double. Alec Olund (Purdue) then drew a walk to put two runners on with no outs. With the runners moving on a full count, Zac Taylor (Houston) roped a hard ground ball through the gap in the left side of the infield to score Duncan from second and give the Chinooks the early 1-0 lead. After a sacrifice bunt by Darius Sewell (Georgia State) advanced the runners to second and third, a sacrifice fly to center by Tim Dalporto (Kent State) scored Olund from third to increase the lead for the Chinooks to 2-0.
The Chinooks tacked on one more in the bottom of the third. Darius Sewell continued to swing a hot bat, driving a double in the left-center gap to put a runner on second with two outs. Tim Dalporto then smashed a double of his own, scoring Sewell on the play to increase the Chinooks’ lead to 3-0.
Lakeshore continued to add to their lead in the fourth, thanks to a home run to left on the first pitch of the inning by Owen Miller (Illinois State) that improved the lead to 4-0.
Tyler Hasper was relieved by Chris Choles (North Dakota State) in the sixth inning after holding the Bucks scoreless in his five innings of work. Though he struggled at times with his command that resulted in six walks and one hit batter, he managed to settle down to limit the Bucks to only three hits and strike out four as well.
The Bucks started to pick up some ground in the seventh. A lead off double down the left field line by Zac Sanders (New Mexico Junior College) started the offense for Waterloo. After a ground ball to second advanced Sanders to third, an RBI ground out to short by Daniel Perry (Iowa) brought in Sanders from third to score the first run of the game for the Bucks, bringing the score to 4-1.
Eddy Morgan made a call to the bullpen with one out in the eighth, electing to bring in Austin Jones (UW-Whitewater) to close out the inning in relief of Chris Choles.
Earlier in the day, Jones was drafted in the 26th round of the MLB Draft by the Chicago Cubs, commenting that, “It’s a huge honor and a childhood dream to be drafted. I’m very excited and very surprised.” Though he grew up a Brewers fan, the Wauwatosa native had no issues being drafted by the NL Central rival to the south, jokily stating, “Hey, it’s not a bad time to be a Cub.”
Though he stared off his night by hitting Adam McGinnis (Western Illinois) with a 2-2 curveball, Jones maintained his composure to strike out Zach Frickie (Iowa) and induce a pop fly by Taylor Boyd (St. Joesephs) for the final out of the eighth inning.
Just when the Bucks looked to be heading towards defeat, they came out of the gates swinging in the ninth, knocking back-to-back singles to lead off the inning. Jones would strike out Daniel Perry for the first out. The following at-bat, a ground ball off the bat of Jake Hand (Southern Illinois) couldn’t be fielded cleanly by third baseman Alec Olund, allowing all runners to advance on the error. With the bases now loaded, Jones buckled down and exhibited his composure, striking out Tyler Curtis (Lynn) with a sweeping slider to get to second out of the inning.
Jones’ night would end there, as Eddy Morgan called on Brandon Baker (Georgia State) to shut the door for the final out of the game. However, Baker couldn’t get the job done, walking Robert Nuestrom (Iowa) to score Zac Sanders from third to bring the score to 4-2.
Luke Sommerfeld (Saint Louis) was then substituted in for Baker, hoping to thwart Waterloo’s offensive surge with the bases still loaded. But, Adam McGinnis squared up on a 1-2 delivery from Sommerfeld and ripped the ball to the left-center gap, clearing the bases for a three-run RBI double to put the Bucks on top 5-4 going into the bottom of the ninth.
Derek Hendrixson (Wright State) was called to close it out for Waterloo in the ninth. Hendrixson started off strong by getting Owen Miller to fly out in foul territory, then striking out Matt Johnson (South Dakota State) to put the Bucks one out away from victory.
However, Lakeshore didn’t back down, as Royce Ando (Michigan State) drove a double down the right field line to keep the Chinooks alive. Joe Duncan then stepped to the plate and slapped his second double of the game down the left field line, scoring Ando from second to even up the game at 5-5.
Sommerfeld returned to pitch the top of the tenth. He struck out Taylor Boyd to start the inning, but issued a walk to Zac Sanders to put a runner on with one out. Then, Matthew Paciello (Kirkwood Community College) reared back and drove a 0-1 fastball over the left field wall to give the Bucks a 7-5 advantage going into the bottom of the tenth.
Hendrixson stayed on for the tenth and closed it out for Waterloo, pitching a one-two-three inning to secure the win for the Bucks and earn his second win of the year.
Sommerfeld would be issued the loss for his performance on Saturday, giving up two earned runs on two hits including a two-run home run to Matthew Paciello that sealed the win for Waterloo. With the loss, Sommerfeld dropped his record to 1-1 on the year and increased his ERA to 4.05.
Though they tallied a total of seven doubles in the game, Lakeshore couldn’t get the bats going when they needed it most, stranding a total of six runners as a team as the Chinooks drop their record to 5-7 with the loss.
With the win, Waterloo improved their record to 10-2 on the season, hoping to add to their seven game win streak heading into their next matchup against the Kensosha Kingfish on Sunday.
The Chinooks continue their home stand on Sunday as they face off against the Battle Creek Bombers in game one of a two-game series.
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, visit http://northwoodsleague.com/lakeshore-chinooks.
