Grafton, WI – The Lakeshore Chinooks have added more depth and experience to the club’s pitching staff with the signing of three experienced pitchers. Aaron Patton (Saint Louis University), Shane Smith (Miami University Ohio), and Chris Williams (Central Florida University) will head to Lakeshore at the completion of their 2017 college seasons.

 

Aaron Patton is a 6’6 lefty from Monett, MO who transferred to Saint Louis after pitching for Crowder Community College where he made fourteen starts in 2016, collecting 104 strikeouts in 85 innings and five complete games. Patton has made a smooth transition to Division I baseball, pitching out of the Billiken bullpen. In nine appearances he has earned a 3-1 record with 15 strikeouts in 15 innings and a 4.80 ERA. At Lakeshore, Patton will join fellow Billiken pitcher Luke Sommerfeld who returns for a second season with the club.

 

 

 

 

 

Shane Smith made twenty appearances during his freshmen season at Miami and established himself as the team’s top reliever with a team high five wins and a 2.98 ERA. The Cincinnati native attended Elder High school where he went 6-0 as a senior with a 0.79 ERA and was selected second team All-State in Ohio. With a grandfather and great grandfather who both pitched in the major leagues, the 6’0 right-hander has continued to improve in 2017. After leading the team from the bullpen early in the year, Smith was called on to start against East Tennessee State on May 18 and pitched a nine inning complete game gem, limiting ETSU to two runs on eight hits and will now work as a starter for the RedHawks.

 

Chris Williams will travel north after the completion of Central Florida’s season in which the Knights have turned things around with a 22-7 record as they begin play in the American Conference. Williams has posted a solid 3.31 ERA in ten appearances with six starts and has shown good control, striking out 24 in 33.2 innings while walking only seven. The 5’11 right-hander from Fort Lauderdale made 16 appearances last year after sitting out 2014. A three-year letter winner at Cardinal Gibbons High School, Williams was named All-County Honorable Mention by the Sun-Sentinel.

 

 

 

You can catch your first glimpse of the 2017 Chinooks roster on Saturday, June 3rd when Lakeshore takes on the Wisconsin Rapids Rafters at 6:35pm at Kapco Park. Season tickets, mini game packages, and group tickets are all currently on sale. Single game tickets go on sale to the public Monday, May 1st at 10:00am. For tickets and more information, call 262-618-4659 or visit lakeshorechinooks.com.

The Lakeshore Chinooks are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. The 23-year-old summer collegiate league is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 20 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 160 former Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including two-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champion Ben Zobrist (CHC) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (BOS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET), Curtis Granderson (NYM) and Lucas Duda (NYM).  All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League portal. For more information, visit www.lakeshorechinooks.com or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play and set the Chinooks as your favorite team.