Post-All-Star break life hasn’t been kind to the Lakeshore Chinooks. After being swept in two straight by Wisconsin Rapids, tonight they fell 11-3 to the Wisconsin Woodchucks in Wausau.

It didn’t get ugly until the eighth. Before that inning—which wound up being a five-run disaster that derailed any comeback hopes—Lakeshore had some momentum heading into the late innings.

After falling down 5-0 through four innings, the Chinooks hung a three-spot in the top of the fifth to cut the deficit to two.

The fifth kicked off with a Dallas Beaver double followed by a Griffin Dey single. Eventually, both they, and Sebastian Holte-Mancera who walked earlier in the inning, came around to score on a Jim Govern double.

But the most inspiring part of this run scoring effort was that Lakeshore had been threatening all night. Through the first four innings, they left seven runners on base. The fifth felt like a breakthrough that would propel their scoring for the rest of the night.

The exact opposite proved to be true. Only three runners reached base through the final four innings, and the bullpen fell apart in miraculous fashion.

This was the ninth time all season Lakeshore has allowed 10 or more runs, but it was the fifth time since the first of July.

Marko Boricich got the start on the mound and allowed four earned runs and seven hits through four innings. Out of the pen, Clayton Slifer held strong allowed only one run through 2.1 innings, but Carl Renz and Aidan Wojciehowski—both making their Chinooks season debut—combined for four earned runs in 1.2 innings to finish things up.

On offense, Dallas Beaver and Griffin Dey were both 2-4, Connor Christman was 3-4, and Jim Govern was 1-4 with 2 RBI.

The Chinooks will finish up their four-game road trip in Wausau tomorrow before returning home for a home game filled month of July.