Mequon, WI – Lakeshore continued their recent offensive struggles and once again fell victim to the crooked inning as the Battle Creek Bombers shut the Chinooks out for a 9-0 win.
The Chinooks were unable to put much pressure on the Bombers pitching staff throughout the night, slapping only five hits and only putting a couple runners in scoring position. Bombers starting pitcher Jordan Rhodes was strong all night, going seven innings and allowing three hits and walking two. He kept Chinooks hitters off balance with six strikeouts as well.
The only time the Chinooks threatened against Rhodes was in the second inning. A double by DJ Lee and a walk to Cole Turney put two runners on with two outs. Takahiro Yamada dropped a single into right field, but Bombers outfielder Michael Brown threw a laser to the plate to get Lee and end the inning.
Chinooks starter Brandon Komar was fantastic through the first three innings, only allowing one baserunner and striking out a pair. But after allowing a run in the fourth on a sacrifice fly by Bomber first baseman Caleb Henderson, things started to fall apart for Komar.
The fifth inning started off with seven consecutive hits for the Bombers, and the game was quickly broke open to a 5-0 lead. Drake Osborn had a RBI double to start off the scoring, and was later followed by RBI singles from Michael Brown, Alec Cargin, and Jordan Swiss.
Battle Creek added three more in the sixth innings against Chinooks reliever Brock Immke, extending the lead to 8-0. A two-out rally that started with a Drake Osborn walk continued after Roman Trujillo doubled. Immke still had a chance to escape the inning with no damage, but the Bombers continued to swing the bat well. Back-to-back triples by Michael Brown and Alec Cargin, who are college teammates at Wofford, scored two runs before Immke got Jordan Swiss to groundout to end the inning.
Aidan Wojciehowski pitched the last two innings for the Chinooks, giving up one run on a couple of hits and a walk. An RBI triple by Connor Bailey, which was the Bombers fourth triple of the game, made the game 9-0 Battle Creek.
The Chinooks have had a tough last couple of weeks, losing 11 of their last 13 games dating back to July 12th. In those 11 losses the Chinooks offense has been the main culprit as they’ve only scored more than five runs once and are averaging only three runs per game. Lakeshore has also lost four of the first five games back from the All-Star break and will need to start finding some quick success to remain in the playoff picture.
Lakeshore will take on the Bombers again tomorrow at Kapco Park, with the first pitch coming at 6:35 PM. Nate Odal will take the hill for the Chinooks, as he looks to rebound after a short start against the Growlers in his last appearance. Odahl (3-3, 6.53 ERA) will make his second start against Battle Creek this season. He gave the Chinooks five shutout innings in a 2-1 Chinooks win back on June 5th.
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.
