Mequon, WI – Following a 10-4 victory over the Wisconsin Woodchucks in game one of the series on Wednesday, the Chinooks returned to Kapco Park for game two on Thursday, hoping to maintain the offense production that was seen in Wednesday’s tilt. Though the bats continued to surge in game two, the Chinooks' pitching staff coulnd't finish it out, giving up seven runs with two outs in the top of the ninth to give the Woodchucks a 10-9 victory.
Tyler Jandron (UW-Parkside) started on the bump for the Chinooks. Making his second start and third appearance for Lakeshore, Jandron has seen limited time on the mound so far this season due to his late arrival, but has managed to hold a 1-0 record and 0.00 ERA with five strikeouts in his 8.1 innings of work for Lakeshore.
Scott Parker (San Francisco) took the mound for the Woodchucks, making his sixth start and eighth appearance of the season. Coming into Thursday, Parker held a 4-1 record and 3.31 ERA, recording 22 strikeouts and 9 walks in his 35.1 innings pitched for Wisconsin.
The Chinooks’ bats were hot early, striking first in the bottom of the second. Back-to-back lead off singles by Owen Miller (Illinois State) and Hayden Senger (Miami-Ohio) got things going for the Chinooks. Joe Duncan (Eastern Illinois) followed with a single of his own, driving in Miller from second to put Lakeshore on the board. After a sacrifice bunt by Zac Taylor (Houston) advanced the runners to second and third, a passed ball brought home Senger to score the second run of the inning, then an RBI double by James Bleming (Lehigh) scored Duncan to give the Chinooks a 3-0 lead. Royce Ando (Michigan State) reached on an error by second baseman Cade Harris (Oklahoma) to put runners at the corners, then an RBI double by Cody Ducote (LSU) scored Bleming and Ando to cap off a five run inning for the Chinooks.
Scott Parker left the game in the bottom of the third after issuing a lead off walk to Owen Miller. Joey Steele (San Francisco) took over in relief for the Woodchucks, and the Chinooks continued to find gaps in the defense. After Miller advanced to second on a passed ball, Chinooks’ manager Eddy Morgan called a hit-and-run in a perfect situation, as Joe Duncan lined a single into right field to score Miller from second for the sixth run of the game. Duncan proceeded to steal both second and third to set up an RBI single to left by James Bleming, then an RBI triple by Royce Ando brought home Bleming from first to increase the Chinooks’ lead to 8-0.
The Woodchucks finally picked up a run in the fifth on an RBI single by Steele Walker (Oklahoma) and two more in the eighth on a two-run home run by Steve Passatempo (UMass Lowell) off of Chinooks’ reliever Luke Sommerfeld (Saint Louis) to make it a 8-3 ballgame.
The Chinooks tacked on one more in the bottom of the eighth after Woodchucks’ reliever Connor Brewster (San Francisco) walked Matt Johnson (South Dakota State) with the bases loaded to increase the Chinooks’ lead to 9-3 going into the ninth.
Nick Horvath (Florida) came in to shut the door in the ninth, but ran into trouble right off the bat. After giving up a base hit to Chad Fleischmann (Lamar) and walking Cade Harris (Oklahoma) to start off the inning, Steele Walker roped a two-out single to score both runners to bring the score to 9-5. Horvath then proceeded to walk Connor Heady (Kentucky) and give up a two-run RBI double to Steve Passatempo to put the Woodchucks within two. After issuing yet another walk, Horvath was taken out of the game and replaced by Jack Landwehr (Illinois State). But, Landwehr left a 0-2 delivery over the middle of the plate and George Janca (Texas AM) roped a two-run double to tie the game. Then, Chad Fleischmann came up to the plate once again and proceeded to slap an RBI single to right to score Janca and give the Woodchucks a 10-9 lead.
Gordon Cardenas (Auburn) entered the game to pitch the bottom of the ninth and silenced the Chinooks’ bats to secure the 10-9 come-from-behind victory for the Woodchucks.
Jack Landwehr was issued his first loss of the year after giving up the game winning run in the top of the ninth. Connor Brewster picked up his first win of the year after coming into the game in the eighth and giving up a run on two hits. Gordon Cardenas was awarded his fifth save of the year as the Woodchucks snap their thirteen game losing streak by splitting the series and earning their first win of the second half.
The Chinooks travel to Rockford on Friday to face off against the Rivets in game one of two-game series starting 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 or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store and set the Chinooks as your favorite team.
