Fond du Lac, Wisconsin – In the final game for the Chinooks against the Dock Spider this season, the team got a much-needed win. Heading into Thursday night’s matchup, the Chinooks were struggling with a four-game losing streak. The losing streak got the Chinooks closer to being eliminated for the final playoff spot in the Great Lakes West division. If the Chinooks lost to the Dock Spiders or if the Wausau Woodchucks won their game, the Chinooks would be officially eliminated from postseason contention. Mitch Alba hoped to give the Chinooks a great start on the mound.
It didn’t start off the best for Alba as he allowed a solo homer in the first inning to Andrew Sojka. The Dock Spiders early 1-0 lead, would be the only lead they’d have the rest of the night. The Chinooks pitching staff was lights out for the last 8 innings. Alba didn’t get much help from his offense in the 1st and 2nd inning. In the 3rd inning, Matthias Haas led off with a walk. The Chinooks best player this season Matt Deprey was on deck. He smoked a ball over the left field wall to drive in Haas and the Chinooks took a 2-1 lead that they wouldn’t give up. Deprey hit his seventh home run of the season.
Alba had another two scoreless innings in the 3rd and 4th to finish off an excellent start. In his four innings pitched he only gave up 1 earned run, 2 hits, and had 3 strikeouts. In the top of the 5th, the Chinooks had two runners on base with Matt Deprey and Zach Storbakken. Bryant Diel hit a double that drove in both runners. A 4-1 lead kept the momentum going for the Chinooks. Sinjon Bobolia gave up a couple of walks in relief for Alba. He was able to manage the jam though and threw two scoreless innings in the 5th and 6th.
The Chinooks offense added some insurance runs in the top of the 7th and 8th. Andy Nelson hit a big fly all the way to the warning track and the Dock Spiders defense couldn’t catch up to it. The speedy Nelson got into third base with a triple. A wild pitch in the next at-bat made it a 5-1 lead for the Chinooks. The Chinooks would score in the top of the 8th as Joey Spence got the final run. Connor Kinney and Jacob Dillon threw the last three shutout innings with a combined three strikeouts. The 6-1 win kept the Chinooks slim playoff hopes alive for a bit.
However, a couple minutes later the Woodchucks held off the Green Bay Rockers to win their game 3-1. The Woodchucks win was the nail in the coffin for the Chinooks to move on to the playoffs next week. The team’s overall record is now 34-35. The Chinooks head to Green Bay Friday night for their final road game to play the Rockers. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35pm at Capital Credit Union Park.
