The Chinooks (1-1) rallied late but it wasn’t enough as they were defeated by a score of 3-2 Tuesday night against the Rafters (1-1) at Witter Field.
The Rafters got out to an early 1-0 lead after a leadoff home run by Brandon Rogers in the bottom of the first inning.
In the bottom of the second, the Rafters got another leadoff hit by Brant Voth on a double to left center. Voth then scored on a wild pitch a batter later to make the score 2-0.
Back to back hits by the Rafters led to runners on first and third nobody out in the bottom of the third. Bahn responded with a strikeout and a huge double play ball to get them out of the jam unharmed.
The pitchers for both teams really started getting a rhythm going after the third. Jackson Bahn got the start tonight for the Chinooks and he went five innings on two runs and seven strikeouts.
Jacob Rosenkranz got the ball for the Rafters and pitched really well. He shutout the Chinooks on four hits and five strikeouts.
The Rafters really locked in defensively after a three-error game yesterday. The Chinooks did a good job of putting the ball in play, but the Rafters weren’t making any mistakes.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, Ben Whiteside checked into the game for the Chinooks and the Rafters got another run on an RBI single from Shane Taylor to extend their lead to 3-0.
In the top of the eighth, the Chinooks looked like they had back to back hits to start the inning, but right fielder Sam Schmitt made a heads-up play by throwing a Chinook runner out at second after pretending to make a play on the ball like he was going to catch it, freezing the runner at first.
The Chinooks threatened to tie the game in the ninth inning after a two-RBI single by Luke Wroblewski to left center made it a 3-2 ballgame. However, Sam Meidenbauer proceeded to ground out the next at-bat to third and the comeback fell just short.
The Rafters outhit the Chinooks 9-6 and three different Rafters had multiple hits. Wroblewski led the way for Lakeshore by driving in the only two runs of the game for the Chinooks. Wisconsin Rapids got contributions from throughout their batting order as six players recorded hits in this game.
The Chinooks will travel to Wausau, Wisconsin as they face the Woodchucks tomorrow at 6:05 p.m. CST.
