By Kevin Mackey
Mequon, WI – The Chinooks returned home for their first homestand of the second half of the season as they played the second game of a home and home against the Kenosha Kingfish. Following a 15-5 win last night over the Kingfish that featured a record setting 16 walks from Kingfish pitching staff
The Chinooks sent Jake Carlsen to the mound with a 0.77 ERA in 2 starts for the team. In 11.2 innings of pitching this summer Carlsen has let up just one run on five hits. Carlsen continued that great pitching tonight as he held the Kingfish scoreless through 3.
In the bottom of the first, the Chinooks jumped on Kingfish starter Keith Kutzler as the Chinooks loaded the bases with no outs. A bases loaded walk scored the first run and a sacrifice fly from Griffin Doersching put the Chinooks up 2-0 early.
The Kingfish got their offense started in the 4th as a two out single from Jake Cosgrove started the comeback for the Kingfish. Yet again two out hitting from the Kingfish came in clutch as Nate Thomas sent a ball over the short porch in right field for a home run that tied the game at 2.
Despite the strong start from Chinooks offense, the bats went dormant from the second through the 5th with just one hit during that span.
The Kingfish pushed ahead in the 6th as a one hit inning from the Kingfish turned into 3 runs for the Kingfish putting them in the lead 5-2. A couple of hit by pitches and walks from Chinooks pitchers Carlsen and Decovich allowed the Kingfish to take the lead.
The Chinooks looked to mount a comeback in the 6th as the bases were loaded with just one-out as a wild pitch scored Zach Clayton from third and moved runners over. Jake Artz battled to a full count and drew a walk to reload the bases and single from Cole Barr scored Doersching to trim the deficit to 5-4.
Recent addition to the roster Jim Jarecki entered from the bullpen to pitch the 8th inning. Looking to keep the Chinooks within striking distance, Jarecki sent the Kingfish down in order.
Lakeshore was also sent down in the bottom of the 8th while stranding runners on first and third as hope for a Chinooks win dwindled away.
A double steal from the Kingfish put two runners in scoring position for Stephenson, who sent a shallow fly ball into center field as as Jake Artz dropped the fly ball allowing Nate Thomas to score. A sacrifice fly from Buban scored another making the score 7-4.
The Chinooks cannot come from behind as they lose 7-4 to the Kingfish.
The Chinooks host the Battle Creek Bombers tomorrow night as they face off for the first time since Game 1 and Game 2 of the Northwoods League season. The Chinooks split that early season series with the Bombers, but the Chinooks send a very different team to the field than they did back in late May. First pitch for tomorrow’s game is set for 1:35 PM.
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.
