By Deann Davidson

Wausau, WI – After an off day on Monday, the Chinooks traveled to Athletic Field to face the Wisconsin Woodchucks. Lakeshore succeeded offensively and defeated the Woodchucks 6-1, tallying 13 hits in the game.

Trevor Tietz, a right-handed pitcher out of Jefferson College took the mound for Lakeshore, holding 2.85 ERA. Tietz was opposed by righty Robert Wegielnik from Florida Southwest State College who has 18 strikeouts in 23 innings pitched so far this season.

Third baseman Cole Barr was the leadoff batter for the Chinooks and singled to centerfield. Barr advanced to second on a single from Cameron Hart. Barr scored on an RBI from Ronnie Sweeny III to give Lakeshore a 1-0 lead over the Woodchucks. In the bottom of the inning, Wisconsin created traffic after back-to-back singles to start, but Tietz escaped the jam unscathed.

The Chinooks were unable to score in the second, but the Woodchucks tied the game on an unearned run. Kenny Rodriguez reached on an error by Hart at shortstop and then stole second. Rodriguez crossed the plate after Nolan Soliveres put the ball in play to tie the game.

Lakeshore had a chance to take the lead in the third after a double from Mike Trautwein who advanced to third on a single from Sweeny III. Trautwein was unable to score after Doersching flew out to centerfield for the second out and Trautwein was tagged out at the plate to end the inning.

The Chinooks created traffic on the bases in the fourth, starting with a leadoff single from Daryl Myers. However, Myers was caught stealing second and became the first out of the inning. Gunnar Hellstrom reached first on an error by the first baseman and advanced to second on a single to center from Justin Olson. Runners advanced after Wegielnik issued a walk to Jake Artz to load the bases with one out. Barr hit an RBI-single to left field, scoring Hellstrom. Trautwein followed with a sacrifice fly to center to give the Chinooks a 3-1 lead over the Woodchucks.

Trey Horton relived Wegielnik for Wisconsin to start the inning but Lakeshore tacked on another run in the fifth. Griffin Doersching had a single to second and then Myers walked, putting runners at first and second with one out. Hellstrom took first after being hit by a pitch to load the bases for Olson. Olson hit into a fielder’s choice, scoring Doersching to give Lakeshore a three-run lead over Wisconsin. The Chinooks’ defense and strong pitching didn’t allow Wisconsin to score in the bottom of the inning.

In the sixth, the Chinooks added to their lead. With reliver Emmanuel Corporan pitching, the Chinooks loaded the bases with no outs after Barr was hit by a pitch, Trautwein singled to right, and a walk issued to Hart, Barr scored on a sacrifice fly from Sweeny III to make it 5-1. The Woodchucks threatened to score in the inning after Angel Tiburcio led off the inning with a double to left and advanced to third when Rodriguez put the ball into play. However, Tietz and the Chinooks got out of the inning scoreless.

In the eighth, Barr got a leadoff walk and advanced to third on a double from Hart with one out. Sweeny struck out for the second out of the inning, but Doersching delievered for the Chinooks with a single to score Barr and make it a 6-1 game. The Woodchucks were unable to overcome the deficit.

Tietz was the winning pitcher, going seven innings, giving up one run on seven hits and only allowing three walks while tallying five strikeouts. Barr reached base three times, twice on hits and once with a walk, scoring all three times. Sweeny had two RBIs for the night.

This win improves the Chinooks to 11-18 on the season. Tomorrow they face the Wisconsin Woodchucks for the second game of the series 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.