By Deann Davidson

Mequon, WI – The Chinooks faced the Wisconsin Woodchucks at home and defeated them in a 6-0 shutout. Jake Carlson took the mound for Lakeshore. This season, Carlson has played 4.2 innings and recorded 1 strikeout and 3 walks, posting a 1.92 ERA. Nate Madej started for the Woodchucks and had 29 strikeouts and an ERA of 4.87.

In the top of the first, the first two Woodchucks flew out, however, Byron Murray threatened to score with a one-hopper to the left field wall. Murray took third on a throwing error by left fielder Nathan Aide but was thrown out at home by Trautwein while attempting to turn a double into an in-the-park home run. In the bottom of the inning, the Chinooks were able to get a runner on base after Trautwein drove a single into shallow left center and Cameron Hart hit into a fielder’s choice, but Ronnie Sweeny III struck out, ending the inning and leaving a runner stranded.

In the top of the second, Carlson faced the minimum, getting two flyouts and a groundout. In the bottom of the inning, Gunnar Hellstrom worked a leadoff walk, but was caught at second when Aide hit into a fielder’s choice. Wisconsin almost had a double play, but Aide barely beat the throw, giving Lakeshore a runner at first with one out. David Dunn worked a walk to put two runners on and after a strikeout from Jeff Holtz, Savier Pinales walked to load the bases with two outs. Cole Barr came to plate, hoping to drive in runs, but a pop out to third base ended the inning and despite creating traffic early, the score was still tied at zero.

In the third, Carlson struck out the first Woodchuck he faced, but walked Cameron Swanger. With Kaeber Rog batting, Swanger stole second successfully but then was picked off for the second out. Carlson ended the inning by striking out Rog. Trautwein came to the plate for the Chinooks in the bottom of the inning, but he grounded out to second and Hart followed with a swinging strikeout for the second out. Sweeny singled and Hellstrom followed with a single of his own, putting runners on first and second. Aide then dropped the third consecutive single into right field, scoring Sweeny from second to make it a 1-0 ballgame.

Carlson pitched himself into a bit of a jam in the fourth after hitting Murray with a pitch and walking Angle Tiburcio and Kenny Rodriguez, loading the bases with two outs. However, a nice snag by Holtz and a flip to Carlson got Javier Rosario out at first for the final out of the inning. With one out in the bottom of the fourth, Pinales reached first after Medej missed the tag at first. Barr hit into a fielder’s choice, giving Lakeshore a runner at first with two outs. Trautwein followed with a single, prompting Wisconsin to bring in reliever Greyson Fletcher for his Northwoods League debut. Fletcher walked the first batter he faced, loading the bases for the Chinooks once again. Sweeny bunted and everyone was safe, allowing Barr to score and give Lakeshore a 2-0 lead over the Woodchucks.

In the fifth, the Woodchucks got a leadoff walk and almost had runners at first and second until Barr made an impressive barehanded play to get Swanger out at first. Kaeber Rog hit a long fly ball to right field that looked like a game-tying homer, but Trautwein caught it at the wall and Arnone took third. Carlson ended the inning by fielding a comebacker and throwing Seltzer out at first. The Chinooks added to the score in the fifth after Aide worked a leadoff walk who then stole second with Dunn batting. Dunn hit a single and brought Aide to third with no outs. Pinales hit a sacrifice fly to center, giving Lakeshore a 3-0 lead.

Both teams went down in order in the sixth and the Woodchucks went down again in the seventh. In the bottom of the seventh, the first two Chinooks to the plate got out. Dunn got an infield single and Holtz followed with another single. Pinales would drive in another run with a 2-out RBI-single.

Tony Grabowske relieved Carlson in the top of the eighth. Carlson struck out two and walked five, but only allowed one hit to Murray in the first. Grabowske struck out Swanger and got Rog to fly out to Dunn in center to record two outs. Seltzer walked and stole second with Adam Frank hitting. Grabowske would get Frank swinging and end the inning, stranding Seltzer at second. In the bottom of the inning, Brian Morell relived Fletcher and proceeded to give up back-to-back walks to Trautwein and Hart. With Sweeny batting, Trautwein stole third and scored on an overthrow by the Woodchucks’ catcher to make it a 5-0 game. Morell walked Sweeny and Hellstrom to load the bases with no outs and Wisconsin brought in Maddux Soloman. Soloman got Aide ot hit into a double play, but Hart scored, giving the Chinooks a 6-run lead that proved too much for the Woodchucks to overcome in the ninth.

Carlson and Grabowske had a combined one-hitter and Grabowske recorded 3 strikeouts in two innings of play. Pinales went 2-2 on the night with a walk and two RBIs. Sweeny also had a strong offensive night, going 2-4 with an RBI.

This win brings the Chinooks to 14-19 on the season. They face the Woodchucks tomorrow at Kapco Park where they hope to increase their win streak to four games.

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.