Mequon, WI – After dropping their first game in the series against the Wisconsin Rapids Rafters last night, the Chinooks (12-14) bounced back with a win at home while dishing the Rafters (22-3) their third loss on the season. Lakeshore’s pitching staff was dominant tonight, holding Rafters hitters to just three total hits and no runs in a rare loss. The Chinooks managed eight hits themselves while scoring five runs on the night. This was the third time the Chinooks have shut out an opposing team this year.

The first three innings of the game were a pitchers duel, with Lakeshore’s Xander Rojahn going toe-to-toe with Wisconsin Rapids Jake Dahle. The game saw only one total hit collected between the two teams by Lakeshore’s Matt Deprey. Rojahn finished his night pitching 2.2 innings giving up no runs while striking out five hitters. Hayden Birdsong (W, 2-0) came in to relive Rojahn in the top of the third and would pitch four innings of scoreless baseball for Lakeshore, striking out six hitters himself.

“I love pitching wooden bat. I wanted to throw fastballs, get some strikes, and secure some outs” Birdsong said. “Its huge. We are a very good team. I think we can make a run if we play it right, and i think we’re one of the best teams in the league with the pieces we have.”

Lakeshore would strike first in the bottom of the fourth inning, with Tony Livermore reaching first on an infield single. Livermore quickly advanced to third after a wild throw to first base by Rafters pitcher Dahle with no outs. Matt Deprey got his 18th RBI of the season with a groundout to score the first run of the game, putting Lakeshore up 1-0. Garrett Martin hit a single and would then steal second base to put another runner in scoring position. Caden Kaiser was called safe on an infield hit that scored Martin with the umpire saying the first baseman’s foot was off the bag. Kaiser would leave the game after hurting his left leg on the run to first with Stephen Hrustich entering the game in replacement.

The next two innings would see Lakeshore score three more runs to extend their lead to 5-0 over Wisconsin Rapids. In the bottom of the fifth, Michael Seegers walked which then brought Matthias Haas to the plate. Haas hit an RBI single, bringing Seegers home. Matt Deprey got his second hit of the night to put men on first and third base with two outs. Garrett Martin hit an RBI single to give him a multi-hit game as well. Lakeshore scored another run in the bottom of the sixth after an Aiden Longwell RBI triple scored Caleb Bartolero. The Chinooks led the Rafters 5-0 after the sixth inning.

Lakeshore’s bullpen went to work the rest of the game led by Calvin Bickerstaff and Luke Schafer, who combined to pitch 2.1 scoreless innings to secure the win. Chinooks pitching would combine for 14 strikeouts, leaving Rafters hitters shook at the plate. This is the lowest hitting and scoring output for the Rafters this year, who now fall to 22-3 after the loss tonight. Coach Travis Akre has the Chinooks one game behind of second place in the Great Lakes West Division.

“I thought we threw a great ball on the mound. Everybody threw exceptionally well getting ahead of hitters, working out of some jams…we played well on defense and got timely hits which leads to wins on most nights” Akre said.

The Chinooks will travel to Simmons Field tomorrow as they take on the Kenosha Kingfish for the first time this season.

“Theyre going to be well coached and they have a lot of talent down there at that club. Its another good test for us and we’re starting to play some really good baseball, it should be a fun series” said Akre.

First pitch is scheduled for 6:05pm tomorrow in Kenosha.