By Deann Davidson

Wisconsin Rapids, WI – The Lakeshore Chinooks lost to the Wisconsin Rapids Rafters in the second game of their road series with a final score of 4-1.

Nathan Hemmerling started for the Rafters with at 1.68 ERA in 16 innings of play. Aaron Ras (1-2) out of Wayne State College started for the Chinooks with a 4.50 ERA. Ras has played in seven games for the Chinooks totaling 18 innings and collecting 20 strikeouts.

The Chinooks struck quickly and got out to an early 1-0 lead in the game. With one out in the first, Hemmerling issued a walk to Dayrl Myers. Myers advanced to second when the ball was put into play by Cole Barr. Barr was out on the play for the second out of the inning. Mike Trautwein came up big for Lakeshore with a two-out RBI-double, scoring Myers and giving the Chinooks the lead. In the bottom of the inning, the Rafters attempted to answer, putting runners at first and second after a double followed by a walk, but were unable to plate a run.

The Chinooks’ offense let up and didn’t score in the next three innings. In the bottom of the fourth, Ras gave up a leadoff walk to Edarian Williams and Osvaldo Tovalin followed with a single, putting runners on first and second with no outs. Ras was able to get a pop-out from Josh Nicoloff for the first out, but Harry Fullerton tied the game with a double, scoring Williams. Ras issued his second walk of the inning to Jaylen Guy, and Galason followed, reaching first on an error by third baseman Barr and allowing Fullerton to cross the plate, making it a 2-1 ball game. Ras struck out Trujillo to end the inning without further damage.

Lakeshore was couldn’t answer in the top of the fifth and went down in order. In the bottom of the fifth, the Rafters created traffic again against Lukas Meerdink who relieved Ras at the beginning of the inning. With one out, CJ Willis reached on a single and another single from Williams put runners at first and second. However, neither scored as Meerdink finished the inning with back-to-back strikeouts.

In the top of the sixth, the Chinooks faced a new pitcher, Cody Turner who came in relief for Hemmerling. Barr, the leadoff man, was hit by a pitch and then stole second with Trautwein batting. Trautwein was walked, but two runners on with no outs for Lakeshore. A walk to Justin Olson loaded the bases and prompted Wisconsin Rapids to bring in Izzy Fuentes to pitch. Fuentes struck out the next two batters and Cameron Hart hit a comebacker to Fuentes and was out at first, ending the Chinooks’ best chance at scoring.

In the seventh, the Chinooks’ bats were unsuccessful and couldn’t bring a man around the diamond. In the bottom of the inning, the Rafters quickly put two men on against Parker Kirkpatrick after a walk and a single. Jake Dunham and Willis scored on a hit from Williams to tack on two more runs for the Rafters and make it 4-1.

The Rafters went on to win 4-1. Ras takes the loss and is now 1-3 for Lakeshore. Trautwein was 2-2 on the night with a walk and Jake Artz was 1-1 with two walks.

This loss brings the Chinooks to 7-17 on the season. The Chinooks travel to face the Wisconsin Woodchucks tomorrow with first pitch 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.