Grafton, WI – The Lakeshore Chinooks have announced the return of pitcher Brendan McGuigan (Richmond) who pitched for the club in 2017 and the signing of two more Richmond Spiders in Layne Looney and DJ Lee.
McGuigan’s career was disrupted with an elbow injury during his sophomore season for the Spiders and after successful Tommy John surgery, the right-hander returned to the mound late in 2017. He continued his comeback bid with eleven appearances for the Chinooks last summer, recording 20 strikeouts in 12.1 innings as he gradually built back his strength. Still looking to return to form, McGuigan has battled injuries once again this season, but hopes to be at full strength in his return to the Chinooks.
Joining McGuigan on the pitching staff will be fellow Texan, Layne Looney, a powerful right-handed junior from Dallas. Looney was rated as the No. 22 high school pitcher coming out of Highland Park High School and has pitched well for the Spiders over his three year career. This season Looney has recorded four saves as the Richmond closer and has struck out 25 batters in 15.1 innings of work with a team-best ERA of 1.17.
DJ Lee was scheduled to play in the Lakeshore outfield last summer before a late-season injury held him back. The speedy outfielder from Lincoln-Way North High School in Frankfort, IL will bring a wealth of talent to Travis Akre’s squad, including 41 career stolen bases in 124 college starts. This season, Lee leads the Spiders with 12 stolen bases in 15 attempts (41 stolen bases in his career) and despite hitting .238, is second on the squad with two home runs and 20 RBI.
The 2018 season is presented by Port Washington State Bank with the home opener set for June 1st at 6:35pm against the Kenosha Kingfish. Season and group tickets are currently on sale. Single game tickets go on sale April 28th at Gill’s Grill Out at Port Washington State Bank in Thiensville from 10:00am to 2:00pm.
The Lakeshore Chinooks are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Entering its 25th anniversary season, the Northwoods 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 185 former Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist (CHC) and Brandon Crawford (SFG) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (BOS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET) and Curtis Granderson (TOR). 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.
