By Deann Davidson
Wausau, WI – After a powerful offensive outburst Thursday night, the Chinooks were unable to outscore the Wisconsin Woodchucks and lost 8-3.
Pitching for the Chinooks was freshman Mitchell DeCovich out of Central Arizona University. In two and two-thirds innings of play, DeCovich gave up allowed 4 hits and 4 earned runs with three strikeouts. The Woodchucks sent Brian Morell to the mound who has 11 strikeouts in 14 and one-third innings of play.
In the second inning, Justin Olson worked a leadoff walk. David Dunn reached first on a fielder’s choice, and Olson advanced to second on a error by the shortstop Kaeber Rog. With Trent Bauer batting, a wild pitch from Morell advanced the runners. Morell’s second walk of the inning allowed Jake Artz to take first and load the bases with two outs. Cole Barr walked, bringing Olson home and giving the Chinooks a 1-0 lead over the Woodchucks. Wisconsin answered quickly and tied the game with a leadoff home run from Angel Tiburcio in the bottom of the inning.
With two outs in the top of the third, Olson worked another walk. Dunn followed with a double to centerfield. The runners advanced on an error by Rog and Olson scored to make it 2-1. The lead was short-lived though. In the bottom of the third, Lawrence Cicileo earned a walk and then he stole second with Kenny Rodriguez batting. On a double to centerfield, Cicileo scored and tied the game once again. DeCovich then hit Adam Frank with a pitch to put runners on first and second. With TJ Reeves batting, Rodriguez and Frank stole third and second respectively. Rog then hit a sacrifice fly to plate Rodriguez and give the Woodchucks the lead, 3-2. Austin Edwards came in to relieve DeCovich but Tiburcio hit a single to third that scored Frank and gave Wisconsin a two-run lead.
Neither team scored or created much traffic on the bases for the next three innings. In the seventh, Barr had a leadoff single to right field and was advanced to second by Daryl Myers. Griffin Doersching singled to left field and Barr scored to bring Lakeshore within one. The Woodchucks extended their lead in the bottom of the inning, starting with a single from Javier Rosario followed by an RBI-double to left field from Santino Miozzi. Cicileo reached on an error by Myers to put runners at first and second. Rodriguez came to the plate and hit a three-run homer to make it 8-3. The deficit proved to be too much for the Chinooks to overcome offensively.
This loss brings the Chinooks to 8-18. The Chinooks return home tomorrow night to face the Wisconsin Rapids Rafters 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.
