Mequon, WI – Following a sweep at the hands of the La Crosse Loggers on Wednesday, the Chinooks returned home on Thursday to face off against the Rockford Rivets. The Rivets and Chinooks split a two game series earlier in the season, each of which went into extra innings.

The pattern continued on Thursday, as both teams remained dead-locked until a ground ball by Tim Dalporto (Kent State) scored Royce Ando (Michigan State) from second to win the game for Lakeshore on a walk-off single by a score of 4-3.

Marshall Kasowski (Houston) took the mound in his first start for the Chinooks. The Houston Cougar product made three prior appearances for Lakeshore as a reliever, tossing 8.1 innings with eleven strike outs and posting a 3.24 ERA.

Ethan Howard (Kirkwood) started on the bump for the third time this season for the Rivets. In his previous appearances he threw 11.0 innings, striking out seven and walking five.

Rockford got on the board first. A lead off walk in the top of the second to Alex Maloney (Ball State) started the early surge for the Rivets. Maloney swiped second with one out in the inning. Cade Bunnell (Kansas State) then roped a line drive single into right, scoring Maloney from second to give the Rivets a 1-0 lead.

The lead didn’t last long, as Owen Miller (Illinois State) answered in the bottom of the second with a one-out single to left, followed by a walk issued to Matt Johnson (South Dakota State) to put two runners on for the Chinooks. A passed ball allowed Miller to advance to third, proceeded by a walk to Kevin Riley (Chaffey Community College) to load the bases. An RBI ground out to short by Royce Ando scored Miller from third, evening the game at 1-1. Then, Zac Taylor (Houston) roped a two-out single into left, scoring Johnson and Riley to give the Chinooks a 3-1 advantage.

Rockford battled back in the top of the fourth. A bunt single by David Cronin (UIC) lead off the inning for the Rivets. Cronin swiped second with ease with one out, and then advanced to third on a wild pitch. A walk issued to Ricardo Ramirez (UIC) put runners on the corners for Rockford, but shortly after Ramirez stole second to put both runners in scoring position. Then Cade Bunnell stepped up big for the Rivets once again, delivering a single up the middle to score Cronin and Rameriz and tie the game at 3-3.

Ethan Howard was taken out or the game in the bottom of the fifth and replaced by Kacey Murphy (Arkansas). Howard finished the night after giving up three runs on five hits and and walking two in his 4.1 innings of work.

Marshall Kasowski’s night ended after the sixth inning. In his 6 innings of work, Kasowski allowed three runs on three hits, issuing three walks but striking out eight in a quality outing for the right-hander. Chris Choles (North Dakota State) came on in relief, appearing in his sixth game for Lakeshore.

The game was silent on both sides, with the two bullpens dominating their opposition. The score remained 3-3 at the completion of the bottom of the ninth, sending the contest into extra innings.

Choles returned in the top of the tenth, but his counter-part Kacey Murphy wasn’t so fortunate, as reliever Zach Olszewski (Buthune-Cookman University) came in to pitch the bottom of the tenth for the Rivets.

The Chinooks finally got a runner on in the bottom of the eleventh after Royce Ando was issued a lead-off walk. Ando advanced to second on a sac bunt by Zac Taylor. After a fly ball to left by new-comer Gage Canning (Arizona State) recorded the second out of the inning, Tim Dalporto stepped up to the plate in a huge spot for Lakeshore.

On an 0-2 delivery from Olszewski, Dalporto hit a ground ball to the right of Rivets’ second baseman David Cronin. Cronin fielded the ball cleanly, but was distracted when Ando, who moved to third on the play, suddenly rounded third without stopping and bolted towards home. Cronin gathered his feet and fired a throw home to try and cut down Ando. But, the throw sailed high to the backstop, and Ando slid into home to score the game-winning run for the Chinooks, topping the Rivets by a score of 4-3 on a walk-off single.

When asked what happened on the final play after the game, Ando replied, “I thought the ball went through the infield.” “Coach never gave the stop sign, so I just kept on running,” he added.

With another walk-off hit for Tim Dalporto, he was in high spirits after the game. “Feels good,” he said. “This time I had to put the ball in play with two strikes, luckily it worked out and we picked up the win.”

Zach Olszewski was issued the loss after giving up the game-winning run, dropping his record to 1-1 on the season. Chris Choles was awarded the win for his fantastic performance out of the bullpen for manager Eddy Morgan. Choles held the Rivets’ offense hitless in his five innings of work, issuing only two walks and striking out four in his first win of the season.

With the win, the Chinooks improve their record to 7-10 while the Rivets drop their record to 9-8 on the season.

The Chinooks return to Kapco Park on Firday to square off against the Rivets’ in game two of the series at 6:35pm.

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.