By Deann Davidson
Mequon, WI –The Chinooks’ game Monday was unusual but led to a 7-6 win over the Fond du Lac Dock Spiders. This was the finale to a four-game series. The Chinooks and Dock Spiders split the series with the Chinooks finding a way to win today after being shut out yesterday afternoon.
Starting for the Dock Spiders was Ryan Bader and for the Chinooks, Parker Coyne took the mound. In 15.2 innings of play, Coyne had a 4.59 ERA and was 0-2 on the season so far.
The game started quickly with both teams going down in order in the first inning. In the top of the second, both teams created traffic on the bases. The Dock Spiders had runners on first and second with two outs after a single from Charlie Maxwell followed by a walk to Cherokee LeBeau, however, a groundout from Cam McMillan left the runners stranded. In the bottom of the inning, Lakeshore had Daryl Myers on after being walked, but were unable to advance him.
In the fourth, Tim Elko hit a liner into left field for a leadoff single for Fond du Lac. Zack Prajzner slipped a chopper through first and second for a single and advanced Elko to third with one out. Charlie Maxwell hit both of them home with a double into the right-center gap making it a 2-0 game. Maxwell was thrown out while attempting to take third. The Chinooks answered quickly, starting with a leadoff walk issued to Cole Barr who advanced to second on a single from Mike Trautwein with a fly ball landing in shallow center field. With Cameron Hart batting, Barr stole third. Hart then hit a line drive past Maxwell at third, driving into two runs with an RBI-double, tying the game at two.
In the bottom of the fifth, the Chinooks threatened offensively once again, but were unable to deliver. Jake Artz had a leadoff single that slid past both the shortstop and third baseman and he stole second with David Dunn batting. Artz advanced to third on a groundout from Dunn. Justin Olson struck out swinging for the second out and followed by a walk to Barr, putting runners at the corners. Both would be stranded though after Trautwein grounded out to second.
In the sixth, Coyne gave up a leadoff walk to Zeb Adreon. With Elko batting, Coyne attempted to pick off Adreon, but overthrew the bag and Adreon advanced to third. Adreon scored off an RBI-single to centerfield for the go-ahead run for Fond du Lac. Luke Robinson hit a fly ball to centerfield and Dunn was unable to make the catch and his throw hit another player on the field, allowing Elko to score and giving the Dock Spiders a 4-2 lead. Coyne was relieved by Ryan Schmit but a rip to right field from Maxwell scored Robinson, making is 5-2. Unlike earlier in the game, Lakeshore was unable to answer the Dock Spiders’ offense in the bottom of the inning.
Schmit gave up a leadoff walk to Jack Lombardi and he took second to be in scoring position to start the seventh inning. Lombardi scored after being advanced to third on a single from Adreon and scoring on a sacrifice fly from Elko to give the Dock Spiders a comfortable three-run lead. River Carbone relieved John Young for Fond du Lac in the bottom of the seventh. Carbone issued a leadoff walk to Justin Olson and Barr followed with a single into right to put runners on first and second. Trautwein bunted and the Dock Spiders wanted to let it go foul, but it barely stayed fair and loaded the bases with no outs. Myers hit an RBI-grounder to first and Elko made a tough sliding play but couldn’t make the play at first and the Chinooks scored a run and only trailed by two, bases still loaded. At this point, Fond du Lac relived Carbone with Conner Dryer who walked the first batter he faced, sending Barr across the plate to make it 6-5 with one out. Savier Pinales lined out, but the bases remained loaded as the Dock Spiders couldn’t double up. Jake Artz was issued a bases-loaded walk, scoring Trautwein and tying the game at six.
In the eighth, the Chinooks’ defense shut down the Dock Spiders, sending them down in order. In the bottom of the 8th, Nathan Thomas relieved Dryer. With one out, Barr singled on a line drive to center and then stole second with Trautwein batting. Trautwein hit a slow chopper to short and was out at first, but Barr advanced to third. With Hart batting, Barr took home on a wild pitch, giving the Chinooks a 7-6 lead over Fond du Lac.
Will Klein came in to pitch for the Chinooks in the ninth and struck out Andrew Bullock with a 96mph fastfall. Klein then walked Downs. With one out, Zeb Adreon stuck out for the second out and Downs attempted to steal second. Downs reached safely since the throw from Trautwein was late, but was called out on a batter’s interference to end the game.
This win brings the Chinooks to 7-15. Tomorrow Lakeshore will travel face the Wisconsin Rapids Rafters with first pitch at 7:05 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.
