Green Bay, WI – The Chinooks used another productive night offensively to hold off the Green Bay Bullfrogs by a final score of 9-7.
Lakeshore got off to a hot start, scoring four times in the top of the first inning. While the Bullfrogs kept one run off the board after Jack Dunn was thrown out at the plate on a Dominic Clementi double, the Chinooks continued to swing the plate aggressively. Dallas Beaver launched a two run home run, giving the Chinooks the early two run lead. Then with two outs, a RBI double by Sebastian Holte-Mancera and a RBI single by Sam Kohnle pushed the lead to four.
Green Bay would chip away at the lead over the next two innings to close the gap to 4-3. The Bullfrogs scored one off of Chinooks starter Brandon Komar in the second inning after a leadoff triple by Riley Mihalik came around to score. Komar was relieved heading into the third for Joe Gahm, who gave up two runs in the third inning.
But the Chinooks would put another four spot in the fourth inning to push the lead back to 8-3. Kohnle led off with a single and advanced to third on a single by Cole Turney. Conor Christman drove in the first run with a sacrifice fly before Jack Dunn hit his first home run of the season, scoring Turney. Clementi singled and moved to second on a walk to Beaver. Bullfrogs starting pitcher Cody Norman then missed with a couple of wild pitches allowing Clementi to score the fourth run of the inning.
One more would score for the Chinooks in the fifth inning, after an error on a Clementi ground ball scored Turney from third base. With a 9-3 lead, it looked like the Chinooks would be able to cruise to a victory. But Green Bay would continue to fight and make the game interesting down the stretch.
The Bullfrogs scored one in the bottom of the fifth inning on a sacrifice fly by Blake Nelson. The Chinooks would then turn the ball over to Nick Campe for the last three innings, and Green Bay would continue to close the gap.
With two outs in the seventh, Campe struck out Mihalik, but a dropped third strike allowed Mihalik to reach base. Andre Antone then reached base on a hit by pitch and Blake Nelson ripped a single, scoring Mihalik. In the eighth inning, Campe struggled to locate his pitches and hit the first two batters in the inning. Keaton Smith drove home one with a RBI single and after a wild pitch by Campe put a runner on third, Adrian Damia bounced into a RBI groundout.
Campe would keep the Bullfrogs off the board in the ninth inning, his only mistake being another hit by pitch. Komar picked up the win for the Chinooks, his second of the season, and Campe was credited with his third save of the summer.
Lakeshore and Green Bay will face off again tomorrow, with the game this time at Kapco Park. Nate Odahl will get the start for the Chinooks, with the first pitch coming at 5:05 PM.
