Mequon, WI – The Chinooks faced the Battle Creek Bombers in the first game of the series and lost the game 5-4.
Parker Coyne, a righty out of South Carolina, took the mound for Lakeshore. In 35.1 innings pitched, he has a 3.82 ERA and 37 strikeouts. Keith Carpenter was starting in his first game for Battle Creek with a 36.00 ERA in one inning of play.
The Bombers got traffic on the bases early, with Kelby Weyler reaching on an infield single, despite a spectacular diving catch from Daryl Myers at shortstop. Weyler advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt but was stranded after a fly out to David Dunn in centerfield and a pop out in foul territory. In the bottom of the inning, Cole Barr led off with a stand-up double to left centerfield and Myers followed with a liner to center, giving the Chinooks two runners on with no outs. With Nathan Aide batting, both runners stole giving Lakeshore a run only 90 feet away. Jake Thompson drove in the run with a grounder to second to give the Chinooks a 1-0 lead.
The first two Bombers went down easily with a groundout and a flyout, but then Coyne issued a walk and the next Bomber followed with a liner that sailed over Thompson’s head to give Battle Creek runners at first and second with two outs. Both runners would advance on a wild pitch but they were stranded when Roy Thurman flew out to center. The Chinooks tacked on another run in the second. Mike Trautwein led off with a single and then stole second and third. With one out, Ronnie Sweeny III advanced to second on an error by the right fielder and Trautwein scored, making it 2-0.
In the third, Coyne and the Chinooks kept Battle Creek from scoring and came up to the plate with their lead intact. However, Lakeshore failed to score. In the fourth, Battle Creek had runners on first and second after an infield single and Coyne hitting a batter with a pitch. Coyne bounced back striking out Michael Lee with a curve ball for the second out. Artz ended the inning with a sensational leaping catch at the wall to keep the runners from scoring. In the bottom of the fourth, Trautwein struck out and Dunn fouled out. Sweeny made it a 3-0 game with a solo shot to right field.
Neither team scored in the fifth, even though both put runners on the base paths. In the top of the sixth, John Malcom drove a pitch to the wall for a leadoff double and advanced to third after the ball got past Barr at third. With two outs and Roy Thurman batting, Malcolm crossed the plate on a wild pitch and the Chinooks only led by two. Lakeshore was unable to answer in their next at bats.
Bailey Vuylsteke relieved Coyne in the top of the seventh inning and gave up a single followed by a double, putting Bombers at second and third. Vuylsteke got Gabe Sotres to strike out looking on a 3-2 pitch but then hit Jake Merrifield with a pitch to load the bases with one out. Michael Morrissette came to the plate and hit a grounder to Sweeny at first who throws it home to get the force out, but it’s off the plate and the Bombers pulled within one with the bases loaded and one out in the inning. Vuylsteke struck out Malcolm and got Steven Kokoski to pop out to shallow center to limit the damage. The Chinooks went down in order in the seventh.
Ryan Schmit relieved Vuylsteke in the eighth and gave up a leadoff triple after a hit to shallow right. Thurman hit an RBI-single up the middle, tying the game at three. Weyler popped out in foul territory for the first out but after an error by the third baseman, Barr, the Bombers had runners at the corners. Sotres then singled to score a run and Merrifield grounded out to short for the second out, while another Bomber scored making it a 5-3 game. In the bottom of the eighth, the Chinooks attempted a comeback, with leadoff batter, Aide, reaching first safely after an overthrow and then advancing to second since it went out of play. Thompson then hit an RBI-single to right center to make it 5-4, but that is as close as Lakeshore would come.
With this loss, the Chinooks fall to 1-4 it the second half of the season. They will face the Battle Creek Bombers again tomorrow night at 6:35pm at Kapco Park where they hope to find a win.
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.
