Mequon, WI- The Lakeshore Chinooks (19-15) dropped both games of a doubleheader with the Battle Creek Bombers on Thursday, as Battle Creek won the first game 11-1 before coming back and beating the Chinooks in game two, 4-2.
Game 1
The first game resumed where it left off back in June, with the Bombers leading 5-0 and up to bat in the top of the 4th. After loading up the bases, Battle Creek was able to capitalize with an Alex Howard RBI walk and a Tom Stoffel sacrifice fly, as the Bombers went up 7-0.
The weather patterns from June continued, as this game went into a weather delay in the bottom of the 4th inning, lasting over 30 minutes.
After play resumed, the Bombers would go on to score a run in the 5th inning and a run in the 7th inning, as Battle Creek took a commanding 9-0 lead.
The Chinooks cracked the scoreboard in the bottom of the 7th, as Tim DalPorto (Kent State) singled home Charley Hesse (North Dakota State) to give Lakeshore its first run of the game.
The Bombers would pour it on in the top of the 9th, with newly-entered Byron Hood (Nebraska) loading up the bases. With the bases full of Bombers, Nick Walker drew a walk and Cody Hawken was hit by a pitch, allowing two runs to cross the plate.
Battle Creek starter, Andrew Click, was phenomenal in this one, as he allowed just one unearned run, striking out eight. His stat line carried over from the last time these teams met, so Click was credited with a nine-inning complete game, earning his fourth victory of the season.
Game 2
Shortly after game one was finished, the Chinooks and Bombers squared off for game two, and unfortunately for the Chinooks, things went the way of the Bombers once again.
This game was supposed to be a regular nine-inning game, but because of the rescheduling of the previously suspended game, these teams were forced to play a doubleheader, with game two scheduled to be seven innings.
Bombers’ Storm Joop continued his tear at the plate, driving in Nick Walker on an RBI single in the top of the 1st. Joop went 2-4 with 2 RBI in the first game and started off game two on a high note.
Brian Sobieski (Davenport) evened things up in the bottom of the 1st on an RBI single, driving home Daniel DeSimone (Oklahoma State).
Nikola Vasic put Battle Creek back on top in the top of the 4th with an RBI single, as Storm Joop crossed home plate and gave the Bombers a 2-1 lead.
Lakeshore kept fighting, as the Chinooks were down to their last at-bats in the bottom of the 7th. Drake Lubin (Eastern Illinois) singled up the middle to bring home Mitch Mallek, and the game was all tied up at two, which forced extra innings.
The Bombers re-took the lead in the top of the 8th on a Nikola Vasic RBI single up the middle. Next man up was Justin Felix, and he delivered a sacrifice fly that gave Battle Creek a two-run advantage.
After blowing the save in the bottom of the 7th, Mark Quinby went back out to the mound for the Bombers in the bottom of the 8th, as Battle Creek once again looked to Quinby to secure a lead.
This time around, Quinby was more successful, as he worked around a couple of baserunners to secure the Bombers’ 4-2 victory.
Both starters were very good in the game, with Chinooks’ Austin Jones (UW-Whitewater) going seven strong innings.
Jones went seven innings, allowing just two runs on eight hits, walking one and striking out eight.
For the Bombers, Zach Karbowski was fantastic. Zarbowski went six innings, allowing just one run on three hits, walking three and striking out two.
The Lakeshore Chinooks (19-15) will face the Battle Creek Bombers once again Friday night, as Luke Sommerfeld (Saint Louis) looks to get Lakeshore a victory in its final home game of the regular season.
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.
