Fond du Lac, WI – A pair of five-run innings in the game’s first two frames by the Fond du Lac Dock Spiders created a deficit too large for the Lakeshore Chinooks to overcome in a 14-8 loss Wednesday in Fond du Lac. With the win, the Dock Spiders clinch a Northwoods League postseason birth for the first time in franchise history. The loss was the Chinooks’ last road game of the summer.

Mason Madalinski made the start on the mound for the Chinooks, and pitched only one inning as he eclipsed 35 pitches during the frame, meaning he could not return to the hill for another inning. In the first inning, he allowed five runs and allowed six of the nine batters he faced to reach base.

Madalinski has struggled for Lakeshore in this season and falls to 0-2 with a 15.88 earned run average in three appearances, two of them starts.

Before Madalinski took the mound for the bottom of the first inning, the Chinooks actually had a 2-0 lead thanks to a two-run home run by Dallas Beaver in the top of the first. The long ball was Beaver’s fourth of the season and the two runs batted in were Beaver’s 29th and 30th RBI, which leads the team.

After pouncing for five runs to take the lead in the bottom of the first, the Dock Spiders added five more in the bottom of the second against relief pitcher Eliot Turnquist. Turnquist allowed the first five batters in the inning to reach base and they all came around to score to give Fond du Lac a 10-2 lead after just two innings.

Turnquist returned to the mound for the third and gave up two more runs, and after Drew Smith scored on an error for the Chinooks in the top of the fourth to cut the deficit to 12-3, the Dock Spiders scored two more runs against Turnquist in the bottom of the fourth to make it 14-3. Turnquist exited the game after throwing 2 1/3 innings while allowing nine runs and seven walks. 12 of the 19 batters Turnquist faced reached base.

Lakeshore’s third and final pitcher of the night was the reliable Nick Campe, who stymied the Dock Spiders’ bats for the final 4 2/3 innings, saving the bullpen from overuse. The outing was Campe’s longest of the season.

While Fond du Lac went scoreless during the game’s final five innings, the Chinooks scored in each of the final four frames but it wasn’t enough to overcome the large early deficit. Lakeshore’s offensive output was overshadowed the the rough night on the mound for Madalinski and Turnquist, but the Chinooks knocked out 13 hits and every hitter in the lineup except for Sam Kohnle collected a base hit.

Dominic Clementi, Beaver, Connor Kimple, Drew Smith, and Sebastian Holte-Mancera each collected two hits on the night for Lakeshore. Clementi and Smith each connected for the first home runs of the season, in the seventh and eighth innings, respectively.

The Chinooks finish the season with four consecutive home games. The Battle Creek Bombers visit Lakeshore Thursday for the first game of a two-game series. First pitch is at 6:35 p.m.

The Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. 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, 200 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 website. For more information, visit www.northwoodsleague.com or download the Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play.