Battle Creek, MI – A three run fifth inning and a solid start from Jacob Lindemann propelled the Chinooks to a 4-2 win over the Battle Creek Bombers, ending a three game losing skid.
Trailing 1-0 heading into the fifth inning, Lakeshore put together three runs on five hits, all coming with two outs in the inning. Garrett Gilbert, Jack Dunn, and Alex Stevenson slapped three consecutive hits, none of which left the infield. With the bases loaded, Sebastian Holte-Mancera singled to left field, scoring two. Dallas Beaver followed with another single, plating Stevenson, but Holte-Mancera was thrown out at home trying to score following an error in the outfield.
It was the second time this season the Chinooks had seen Bombers starting pitcher Anthony Brophy after a Lakeshore 5-3 win in the first meeting. The second matchup went better for Brophy, as he allowed three runs over six innings of work. However, Lakeshore has handed Brophy both of his losses this season as he fell to 1-2 in the defeat.
With the 3-1 lead midway through the fifth inning, the Chinooks snapped a streak of 31 innings in which they never led against their opponent.
Chinooks starting pitcher Jacob Lindemann twirled his best start of the season, allowing two runs over five and a third innings. Lindemann allowed Battle Creek to strike first on a two out single by Riley Tirotta in the second inning to take a 1-0 lead. A sacrifice fly by Nate Jones in the fifth inning scored the second run for the Bombers, closing the gap to 3-2. Lindemann finished his day allowing seven hits while walking none and striking out three.
Luis Ferrer replaced Lindemann with one out in the sixth and shut down the Bombers for two and two thirds stellar innings. The Bombers had two runners on with one out in the sixth but Ferrer struck out Connor Bailey and Tirotta to end the threat. Ferrer allowed only two hits and struck out five in his relief appearance.
Lakeshore was able to add an insurance run in the seventh inning on back to back doubles by Dunn and Stevenson to extend their lead to 4-2. Stevenson finished with three hits, raising his batting average to .378 on the season. Dunn and Beaver each added two hits as well to continue their recent hot hitting.
With Lakeshore holding on to a 4-2 lead heading into the ninth inning, manager Travis Akre decided to turn the game over to Nick Campe. Campe ran into some trouble early in the inning, hitting Tirotta with a pitch and allowing Roman Trujillo to single. With two runners on and one out, Campe settled down and struck out pinch hitter Jordan Swiss before Drake Osborn flew out to end the game.
Lindemann picked up his first win of the season and is now 1-2. Campe was credited with the save, also his first of the season.
The Chinooks and the Bombers will battle again tomorrow in game two of the Chinooks three game road trip. First pitch will be at 12:05 PM.
The Lakeshore Chinooks are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Now in 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 190 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.
