By Deann Davidson
Fond du Lac, WI – The Lakeshore Chinooks were unable to match the Fond du Lac Dock Spiders’ offense in a 5-2 loss, their fifth in a row after winning the first game of the season.
The Dock Spiders struck first, scoring in the bottom of the second inning. Chinooks’ pitcher, Ryan Dauman issued a leadoff single, followed by a walk and back-to-back singles allowing Max Down to score before Lakeshore had recorded an out. The Chinooks got out of the inning without any more damage after getting a double play followed by a groundout, third baseman Ross Messina to Griffin Doersching at first.
The Chinooks were unable to answer in next inning, and Fond du Lac tacked on another run in the bottom of the third to make it 2-0.
In the top of the fifth, the Chinooks bats woke up and created traffic on the bases starting with a single from Justin Olson followed by a double to Easton Bertrand that sent Olson to third. Olson scored to make it 2-1 but Lakeshore left two runners stranded. However, the Dock Spiders answered in the bottom of the inning after relief pitcher Tony Grabowske allowed a leadoff single that led to a run after giving up a walk followed by an error by Messina.
The scoring continued in the sixth inning. Messina hit a single, and advanced to second on an error made by Fond du Lac’s right fielder. Jake Thompson followed with an RBI-single that made it a one-run game at 3-2. The Dock Spiders would not let up offensively though, bringing two across the plate in the bottom of the sixth. The three-run deficit would prove too much for the Chinooks to overcome, losing the game with a final score of 5-2.
Jake Thompson had a strong offensive game, reaching base all four times up with three singles and a walk. He leads the Chinooks with a batting average of .455. Lakeshore performed well on defense, recording three double plays in the game and committing zero errors. The Chinooks’ pitchers totaled 5 strikeouts but struggled with command, issuing 10 walks to the Dock Spiders. Offensively, Lakeshore left 5 runners on base.
With this loss, the Chinooks fall to 1-5 on the season. Tomorrow they travel to Madison to face the Mallards to hopefully end this skid. First pitch is at 6:05 p.m.
The Lakeshore Chinooks are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. The Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 22 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, over 200 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.
