Mequon, WI- The Lakeshore Chinooks (19-13) defeated the Wisconsin Woodchucks 18-9 on Wednesday night, with Joe Duncan (Eastern Illinois) and Rylan Thomas (Central Florida) each recording four hits.
The Woodchucks were the first team to get on the board, as a Yeager Taylor sacrifice fly in the top of the 1st drove in Logan Foster to give Wisconsin an early 1-0 advantage.
Joe Duncan collected his first hit in the bottom of the 1st, smashing a triple that brought home Jack Dunn (Northwestern). Matthew Mika (Central Florida) then hit a sacrifice fly to score Dunn from third. Daniel DeSimone (Oklahoma State) later singled home Rylan Thomas after he laced a double to deep center.
After putting up three runs in the 1st, the Chinooks would again tack on three runs in the 2nd, with most of the damage coming on a Rylan Thomas 2-run homer. The home run from Thomas was his ninth of the season, as Lakeshore left the 2nd inning up 6-1.
The Chinooks again put up a three spot on the scoreboard in the bottom of the 3rd, as Jack Dunn collected an RBI single, making it 7-1 Lakeshore. Drake Lubin (Eastern Illinois) later scored on a throwing error by the catcher, and Joe Duncan later singled home Dunn, as the Chinooks led by eight.
In the bottom of the 4th inning, Rylan Thomas scored on a throwing error from the shortstop, followed by a Brian Sobieski (Davenport) RBI single, driving home Daniel DeSimone.
The Woodchucks put together a solid inning in the top of the 5th, as a Logan Foster 2-run double pulled Wisconsin within single digits. Later in the inning, the Woodchucks executed a double steal, allowing Foster to come around and score.
After Joe Duncan led off the bottom of the 5th with a walk for Lakeshore, Matthew Mika continued to terrorize opposing pitchers, as he lined a triple into the right-center gap, as Duncan came home and gave the Chinooks a 12-4 lead. Later in the inning, Tim DalPorto (Kent State) drove home Mika on a sacrifice fly.
Mitch Mallek (St. Cloud State) led off the bottom of the 6th for the Chinooks with a walk, and later came around to score on a Jack Dunn RBI, as he grounded into a fielder’s choice, pushing the Lakeshore lead back to double digits.
Trey Dawson collected his third hit of the night for Wisconsin in the top of the 7th, as he tripled to center field, bringing home Logan Foster and Hunter Coleman. Next up for the Woodchucks was Yeager Taylor, as he delivered a sacrifice fly, and Wisconsin trailed by a touchdown, 14-7.
Things got interesting in the top of the 8th, as Logan Foster smacked a 2-run triple to right-center, scoring Hunter Larson and Caeden Harris. The extra-base hit was Foster’s second of the game and pulled Wisconsin within five.
Joe Duncan collected his fourth hit of the night with an RBI single in the bottom of the 8th, as he drove in Drake Lubin. The RBI for Duncan was his fourth of the night.
Later in the inning, Charley Hesse (North Dakota State) hit a line drive to left-center, as he drove in Jack Dunn and Joe Duncan on an RBI single.
Looking for the cycle, Rylan Thomas stepped up to the plate and lined a ball to left-center that got all the way to the wall. Thomas sprinted around the bases and saw third base in reach, but was thrown out attempting to stretch a double into a triple. Thomas finished a tripe shy of the cycle, but still ended the game 4-5 at the plate.
The Lakeshore Chinooks (19-13) will stay at Kapco Park on Thursday, as the Chinooks and Bombers will continue a suspended game from earlier in the season at 3:30, with Lakeshore and Battle Creek also playing a regularly scheduled, seven-inning, game at 6:35.
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.
