Madison, WI—The Chinooks bats were at it again in a dominating 10-3 win over the Madison Mallards to move to 3-1 on the season. The win tonight completed a two-game sweep in which the Chinooks outscored the Mallards 23-3.
Tonight’s action started with a seven-run third inning lead off by three straight hits: a Kody Matthews (Marshall) double to deep right and singles by Daniel DeSimone (Oklahoma State) and Connor Kimple (Oklahoma State). Following a RBI groundout by Royce Ando (Michigan State) and a Caleb Dean (Lamar) walk, the bases were packed for Zach Biermann (Polk State) who unloaded a grand slam over the right-center field wall, his third homer in two games, to make it 5-0 Chinooks.
After batting around, Matthews, following an error by Mallards' third baseman Thomas Smart (Oakton), slapped a double to deep left to drive in two more before the third inning finally came to a close.
The Chinooks tacked on one more in the fourth after a Justin Bardwell (Fordham) single knocked in Royce Ando to make it 8-0.
On the other side, Chinooks starting pitching picked up where it left off from last night’s 13-0 shutout. Aaron Patton (St. Louis) tossed six dominant, scoreless innings striking out eight and surrendering only three hits and two walks.
His most impressive display came in the bottom of the sixth. After letting up a leadoff walk followed by a deeply driven double into the right field gap, Patton struck out the next two on six straight pitches while inducing four whiffs on his breaking ball. Finally, a pop-out to the shortstop Ando kept the shutout intact.
The Mallards did crack the scoreboard for the first time this series in the bottom of the seventh. A leadoff error by Kody Matthews and a slew of walks by Peter Bovenzi (Richmond) caused Kian O’Brien (Madison College) and Nick Schrader (Western Illinois) to cross the plate which made it 10-2 Chinooks after seven.
The offense didn't pick back up until the 9th. The Chinooks’ Ando reached on an error, Dean knocked single to right and Biermann was knocked on the arm to load the bases for Jacob Richardson. 6 foot 8 inch submarine reliever, David Stover, induced a 6-4-3 double play with a hard, running sinker, but Ando crossed the plate to make it 9-2.
Justin Bardwell stepped in next and drove a RBI single to right to bring Dean around score and make it 10-2.
Nick Campe (Olivet Nazarene) came in to close the door for the Chinooks in the bottom half of the ninth. After a leadoff strikeout, he let up a walk and a single to Cade Bunnell (Madison College) and Doran Turchin (Illinois) which set the stage for Brock Weimer who drove in Bunnell on a screaming liner to right field. But, Turchin, who struggled this series striking out 5 times in 9 at-bats, was thrown out at home to end the game.
The Chinooks head to Kapco Park in Mequon, Wisconsin for their first home game of the 2017 season after wrapping up a season opening four-game stretch on the road in Battle Creek and Madison to start the season.
Zach Spears takes the hill and will battle J.P. Stevenson of the Wisconsin Rapids Rafters.
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 170 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
