By Deann Davidson

Mequon, WI – The Lakeshore Chinooks took on the Fond du Lac Dock Spiders in the third of a four-game series and were shut out 6-0. Fond du Lac leads the series 2-1. The Chinooks took the first game, crushing the Dock Spiders 13-4 but only scored one run the following night, dropping their road game 5-1.

Tony Grabowske would start for the Chinooks, a righthander attending Stephen F. Austin University. The Dock Spiders sent Aaron Ball Jr. out of Kankakee Community College. In 13 innings, Grabowske has a 4.15 ERA compared to Ball Jr.’s 1.80 ERA with 20 innings of play.

Fond du Lac scored early in the game, putting pressure on Grabowske from the start. Leadoff batter Duncan Hunter hit an 0-2 single past Chinooks’ diving shortstop, Cameron Hart. With Tim Elko batting, Hunter stole second and then advanced to third on a pitch that slipped past Lakeshore’s catcher, Trent Bauer. Hunter scored when Elko broke his bat on an RBI-single, making it 1-0. In the bottom of the first, Jake Thompson, who is batting .444 this summer so far, reached on an error by Kellen Sarver at second. Thompson took second on a wild pitch, but a strikeout by Mike Trautwein left him stranded.

In the top of the second, the Dock Spiders continued their offensive success. Cam McMillan shot the ball past third for a base hit and then Charlie Maxwell singled him home with a fly ball that sliding centerfielder David Dunn couldn’t snag, giving Fond du Lac a 2-0 lead over the Chinooks. In the bottom of the second, the Chinooks created traffic on the base path. Cole Barr hit a line drive to left field and then stole second with Daryl Myers batting. Barr was then caught in a pickle between third and home and was tagged out at the plate. Myers doubled down the line and advanced to third on a groundout from Griffin Doersching. Bauer followed with a two-out walk and Lakeshore had runners on the corners. Myers met same fate as Barr and was out at home after hesitating on the base path.

Jarod Large relieved Grabowske at the start of the fourth inning and allowed back-to-back singles to Sarver and Cherokee LeBeau. Large would pitch himself out of the jam, getting McMillan to strike out swinging, Zach Prajzner to fly out to right field, and Charlie Maxwell to ground out to first.

In the top of the seventh, Large allowed a leadoff single to Prajzner who made it to third on a single from Maxwell that slipped past a diving Doersching to put runners at the corners. Maxwell stole second with Jack Lombardi batting. Large issued a walk to Lombardi, loading the bases with no outs. Duncan Hunter hit a single, scoring Prajzner and giving the Dock Spiders a 3-0 lead. With bases loaded and two outs, Large gave up another walk, allowing Maxwell to score. LeBeau, the next batter, was hit by a pitch and Fond du Lac scored another run and the Chinooks trailed 5-0. Lakeshore did not have an answer for the Dock Spiders and went down in order in the bottom of the seventh.

Aaron Ras relieved Large in the eighth and issued no walks and only allowed a single to Maxwell in the inning. The Chinooks went down in order in the bottom of the eighth, unable to get any sort of offense started.

Despite a five-run lead, the Dock Spiders did not let up. Ras hit Elko with a pitch and Elko advanced to third after two wild pitches. Sarver hit an RBI-groundout to third baseman Cole Barr to score Elko and make it a 6-0 game. The Chinooks had three outs to make a comeback, and were unable to do so. Jake Thompson drove a liner to center for a leadoff hit and Savier Pinales pinch ran for him. Hart then hit into a 5-4-3 double play and Mike Trautwein hit a slow roller and was easily thrown out at first.

The Chinooks only recorded five hits, two coming from Jake ‘Artz, and had no errors in the game. This loss brings Lakeshore to 6-15 on the season and are in last place in the Great Lakes West division. Tomorrow, this series will end with a game at Kapco Park at 6:35 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.