Kenosha, WI – After splitting the series with the Rockford Rivets, the Lakeshore Chinooks took on the Kenosha Kingfish Thursday night in game one of a two game series. Both teams came into the game with an overall 18-26 record which changed after the Chinooks topped the Kingfish in a tight 4-3 win.
On the mound for the Kingfish was Andrew Reisinger (McHenry CC) who made his second appearance against the Chinooks and came into the game with a 4.45 ERA and 30 strikeouts in 34.1 innings pitched.
Both teams were quiet up until the top of the fifth when the Chinooks finally struck on Reisinger. Owen Miller (Illinois State) reached first after he smacked a one out single which brought up James Bleming (Lehigh) who roped a triple that scored Miller to put the Chinooks on the board 1-0.
The scoring did not stop there for the Chinooks. They continued in the top of the sixth after Cody Ducote (LSU) started the ball club out by drawing a walk. Matt Johnson (South Dakota State) followed and drew a walk to put runners on first and second with two outs. Darius Sewell (Georgia State) stepped up to the plate and hit a single to load the bases for Miller who smacked an RBI single that scored Ducote and made it 2-0 Chinooks. The Kingfish went to the bullpen and brought in Bobby Skogsbergh (Boston College) who gave up a walk to Bleming that allowed Johnson to score and gave the Chinooks a solid 3-0 lead.
Keenan Bartlett (Richmond) made his sixth start of the season with the Chinooks and came in with a 1-2 record and a 2.38 ERA. Bartlett was very solid on the mound against the Kingfish batters giving up only one hit and no runs in his impressive 6.1 innings of work.
Nick Horvath (Florida) would take over for Bartlett in the bottom of the seventh where he went scoreless until the bottom of the eighth. Dylan Rosa (Kent State) led the Kingfish off with a single followed by Blake Reese (Florida) who walked to put runners on first and second with no outs. JD Hearn (UC San Diego) later reached first off an error by the Chinooks defense that allowed Rosa to score and put the Kingfish on the board 3-1.
Harvath would be taken out after going 1 inning and giving up 2 runs. Jack Landwehr (Illinois State) came in from the Chinooks bullpen to take over in the bottom of the eighth but allowed a run to score off a sac fly from Matt Byars (Michigan State) that scored Reese to make it 3-2 Chinooks.
The Chinooks ran into some trouble in the bottom of the ninth after Pete Schuler (Kent State) got the Kingfish going with a one out double. Sawyer Gieseke (Arizona) came into run for Schuler and Nick Kanavas (Madison College) advanced him to third off a single followed by Rob Henry (Brown University) who singled with two outs, scoring Gieseke and tied it up 3-3.
The Chinooks fought back hard in the top of the tenth as they faced righty pitcher Ryan Orr (Kalamazoo). Zac Taylor (Houston) led off with a single and later advanced to second after out number one. Ducote ripped a single that allowed Taylor to score and gave the Chinooks a 4-3 lead.
One run is all the Chinooks would need as Landwehr came in to finish the bottom of the tenth and had a 1,2,3 inning which sealed the deal for the Chinooks and helped secure the ball club a 4-3 win. Landwehr earned the win for the Chinooks and Miller contributed by going 2-4 at the plate and continued to stay hot.
The Chinooks will face off against the Kingfish in game two of the series Friday night at 7:05 where they look to go 2-0.
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 or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store and set the Chinooks as your favorite team.
