Battle Creek, Michigan – The Chinooks continue their hot start in the 2nd half of the Northwoods League season. After winning the first game against the Battle Creek Battle Jacks with dominant pitching, it stayed the same. In a pitching matchup that looked to be a fantastic pitcher’s duel, it lived up to the hype. Chinooks starting pitcher Joe Glassey entered the game with a 2.45 ERA, while the Battle Jacks starter Justin Graves had a lower 1.82 ERA. Through the first four innings, neither pitcher showed any signs of weakness.
Only a couple of runners for both teams were able to get on base as Graves and Glassey were mowing down both lineups. The Chinooks offense woke up in the 5th inning. After the first two batters retired in the inning, Stephen Hrustich got on base with a walk. Hrustich would reach base three times in the game with another walk and a single to increase his on-base percentage. Josh Johnson came up to the plate and blasted a 2-run homer over the left-field wall at MCCU Field to get the Chinooks on the board. It was Johnson’s first home run of the season.
Graves started to slow down his fast start after allowing the homer to Johnson. In the 6th, Michael Seegers got his first single of the day and stole 2nd right away to give the Chinooks a runner in scoring position. Garrett Martin walked and a wild pitch got both runners to 2nd and 3rd. Caleb Bartolero had his lone RBI on a sac fly to drive in Seegers and Chinooks had a commanding 3-0 lead. Graves finished his start with 6 innings pitched, 3 earned runs, and only allowed 3 hits. Joe
Glassey was unbelievable on the mound for his 6 innings pitched. He only gave up 3 hits, a walk, and had a season-high of 6 strikeouts. Glassey was efficient and controlled the Battle Jacks lineup until he got into trouble in the 7th inning. The lone run for the Battle Jacks would be an earned run that Glassey was responsible for. Brycen Sherwood got an RBI groundout to make it a 3-1 game. Sherwood had 2 of the 4 Battle Jacks hits in the game and tried to keep them in the ball game.
It looked like the momentum was shifting towards the Battle Jacks going into the 8th. With both starting pitchers out, the Chinooks responded with some insurance runs off the Battle Jacks bullpen. Michael Seegers started the action with an infield single. Seegers went 3 for 5 at the plate and was the only Chinook with a multi-hit game. Matthias Haas reached base on a walk and an error led to both runners getting in to make it a 5-1 ballgame. George Klassen came in the bottom of the 8th in relief for the Chinooks. He closed out the Battle Jacks subpar offense with a lights-out 2 innings pitched.
After the Chinooks sweep, they’re now 2-0 in the second half and tied atop of the Great Lakes West division. Their overall record this season gets up to 20-18. Lakeshore heads back home to face the Fond du Lac Dock Spiders in a two-game series starting Friday night. First pitch is set for 6:35pm at Moonlight Graham Field at Kapco Park.