Wisconsin Rapids, WI – Following a heartbreaking loss to the Rafters in game one of the series on Thursday, the Chinooks returned to square off against their division rivals for game two on Friday. However, the Chinooks struggled once again to get the bats going, as the Rafters complted the sereis sweep by  defeating the Chinooks by a score of 7-3.

Nolan Bond (Houston) started on the mound for Lakeshore, making his fifth start and tenth appearance of the season. Coming into Friday, Bond had posted a 0-2 record with a 2.67 ERA, recording 13 strikeouts and 11 walks in his 27.0 innings of work.

Bond faced off against Gareth Stroh (Coffeyville CC), who was making his ninth start of the season. Coming into Friday, Stroh posted a 3-2 record with a 3.99 ERA, tallying 36 strikeouts and 10 walks in his 41.2 innings pitched for the Rafters.

The Rafters struck first in the bottom of the second, as an RBI single by Doak Dozier (Virginia) scored Joey Morgan (Washington) to put Wisconsin Rapids on the board.

The Chinooks answered in the top of the fourth. A one-out double by Tim DalPorto (Kent State) followed by a single by Darius Sewell (Georgia State) put runners at the corners for Lakeshore. Then, an RBI single by Kevin Riley (Chaffey CC) scored DalPorto from third to put the Chinooks on the board and even the game at 1-1.

Wisconsin Rapids broke the tie in the bottom of the sixth. Rob Calabrese (Illinois-Chicago) stepped up and ripped an RBI single to score Demetrius Sims (Bethune-Cookman) to give them the 2-1 lead. But, Lakeshore fought back once again in the top of the seventh. After reaching on a single and advancing to third on an error, Cole McDevitt (Minnesota) was ultimately driven in on an sacrifice fly to center by Owen Miller (Illnois State) to tie the game at 2-2.

However, the Rafters’ offense surged in the bottom of the seventh. Luke Sommerfeld (Saint Louis) came out of the bullpen in relief of Bond to start the seventh. But his night would be short, as he proceeded to issue walks to Jake Lumley (Canisius) and Patrick Cromwell (Clemson) to start off the inning. Liam Jenkins (Arizona State) was brought in to clean up the mess, but he would run into trouble as well. After hitting Demetrius Sims to load the bases, a 1-1 delivery to Brandon Polizzi (Cal State-Dominguez Hills) sailed to the backstop, allowing Lumley to score to give the Rafters a 3-2 lead. After walking Polizzi, Jenkins was substituted for Jack Landwehr (Illinois State), but he ran into problems right away. Landwehr left a 1-1 offering to Dustin Woodcock (SIU-Edwardsville) over the middle of the plate, and Woodcock got enough wood on it to lift it over the fence for a grand slam, widening the gap to 7-2.

The Chinooks fought back in the top of the ninth. Joe Duncan (Eastern Illinois) got things started by roping a one-out double. After advancing to third on a wild pitch, Duncan came around to score on an RBI single by Tim DalPorto to make it a 7-3 ballgame. But, the Chinooks couldn’t muster any offense following the single, as the Rafters went on to win the game by a score of 7-3 and complete the series sweep over Lakeshore.

Luke Sommerfeld was issued his third loss of the season after giving up two runs and two walks in his 0.2 innings of work. John Jaegar (Sterling College) was awarded his sixth win of the year after coming into the game in the seventh and holding the Chinooks to one run on three hits and raking up two strikeouts in his 2.0 innings pitched for the Rafters.

With the loss the Chinooks drop to 8-12 for the second half and 23-33 overall, while the Rafters improve to 13-6 for the second half and 37-18 for the season.

The Chinooks return home to Kapco Park on Saturday to face off against the Kalamazoo Growlers at 6:35 pm.

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.