Mequon, WI- The Lakeshore Chinooks (17-13) defeated the Madison Mallards 3-2 on Sunday night, as the Chinooks not only came out on top in the game, but also set a new Kapco Park attendance record.
Neither offense had any success early in this one, with the first run of the game coming in the top of the 5th inning. On a play that should’ve ended the inning, Mallards’ Andrew Baker hit a fly ball to deep right field that Mitch Mallek (St. Cloud State) couldn’t come up with, as Mallek misread the ball and ended up hitting off his glove. As a result, David Vinsky came around to score, as Madison took the 1-0 lead.
The Chinooks not only cracked the scoreboard, but took the lead in the bottom half of the 6th, as Lakeshore led off the inning with four consecutive hits. After Drake Lubin (Eastern Michigan) doubled and Jack Dunn (Northwestern) singled, Joe Duncan (Eastern Illinois) delivered an RBI single that scored Lubin, tying the game at one.
Next up was Matthew Mika (Central Florida), who smacked a single just past the glove of the first baseman, as the ball trickled into right field and scored Jack Dunn. Tim DalPorto (Kent State) later hit an RBI groundout, as the Chinooks left the inning up 3-1.
David Vinsky led off the top of the 7th for the Mallards with a long ball, launching a solo home run over the left-field fence, as Madison closed the gap to just one.
In a game that not only featured a victory for the Chinooks, before the game, Major League Baseball Hall-of-Famer and Commissioner Emeritus Bud Selig threw out the first pitch, a strike right down the middle.
Because of the pre-game celebrations featuring Bud Selig, Bud Selig bobblehead night, and Brewers night at the game, the Lakeshore Chinooks set a new Kapco Park attendance record, 2,669 fans.
Chinooks’ starter, Austin Havekost (Kent State), was stellar once again in this one, allowing two runs (one earned) on five hits, walking just one and striking out three.
Over his last six starts, spanning 37.2 innings, Havekost has allowed just four earned runs, which calculates to a 0.96 ERA.
When asked how he’s been able to maintain this dominance, Havekost said, “Just getting ahead, honestly, having confidence in my stuff, having confidence in the defense. I’m throwing my slider a lot more and I’m really starting to trust my changeup.”
Havekost also appreciated how incredible the fans were throughout the game, saying they were the ones who really picked him up.
“It was awesome. I didn’t have my best stuff today, but I knew I could use the defense and the fans. We had a great atmosphere here and I think our team got pumped up and they played awesome defense behind me.”
The Lakeshore Chinooks (17-13) will look to carry this energy into Monday night’s matchup with the Wisconsin Woodchucks, with first pitched scheduled for 6:35 at Kapco Park.
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 180 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.
