The Chinooks squared off against the Kalamazoo Growlers in their second matchup of the year and lost by a score of 8-7 on Friday night. The Chinooks fall to 6-6 on the year and fall to 4-5 on the road. The Chinooks seemed to be heading towards victory for most of the game until a big five run, eighth inning where the Growlers pulled away.
The Chinooks started the game scoring the first two runs of the day courtesy of two Taeg Gollert swings. Gollert took the first pitch of the game and smacked the ball past the left field fence, good for his first home run of the season. In the next inning, Gollert drove in AJ Taylor with an RBI single after Taylor got on base with a single of his own. Gollert played shortstop in this one and went for two hits in his five plate appearances on the day.
In the top of the fourth the Chinooks added on to their already 2-0 lead by scoring two more runs in the inning. AJ Taylor got the inning started with a double to left field. Next at bat OF Drew Townsend singles allowing Taylor to advance to third. During a Sam Meidenbauer at-bat a wild pitch allows Taylor to score and advance Townsend to third base. During the same Meidenbauer at-bat, an error allows Meidenbauer to reach first and Townsend to score from third making the ballgame 4-0 Chinooks.
In the bottom of the fourth, the Growlers would get their scoring started with two runs in the inning. Korbin Griffin and Casen Taggart would both be walked in the first two at-bats of the inning. Designated hitter Will Furniss went 2-4 for on the day including a double that allowed Griffin to score from second. After John Kramer strikes out, Joey Winters singles to center field allowing Taggart to score, cutting the lead down to 4-2 in favor of the visiting Chinooks.
The Chinooks would extend their lead 5-2 in the next inning when Taylor RBI singles allowing Andy Nelson to score from second. In the sixth inning, now with Gradin Taschner on the mound, the Growlers scored, making the game 5-3 still in favor of the Chinooks. Heading to the bottom of the eighth inning, the Chinooks led 6-3 after adding on to their lead with a run scored in the top half of the eighth.
DJ Hess replaced Taschner on the mound for the eighth inning giving up a total of two earned runs out of the five total runs that would be given up during the inning. Hess started off the inning on a positive note striking out the first batter for out number one. From there, Alex Fernandes singles to right field and steals second during the next at-bat. A Griffin ground out advances Fernandes to third and the Chinooks would have two outs in the inning. Growlers catcher Taggert is walked by Hess, setting up runners on third and first. Furniss came up big for the Growlers hitting a single that scored Fernandes making the Chinooks lead 6-4. Pinch runner Myles Beale replaced Furniss on first, still with Taggert on second. Kramer, the Growlers LF smacks a double scoring Taggert along with Beale scoring an unearned run making the game tied up a 6-6. The Growlers would go on to score to more unearned runs mounting the comeback to make the game 8-6 in their favor. Ultimately, the Chinooks would score one more run in the ninth, making the final score 8-7 in favor of the Growlers.
The Chinooks look to bounce back with another road game against the Madison Mallards on Saturday night with first pitch set for 4:05 pm CST. The Chinooks are 2-0 against the Mallards at home but have yet to face them on the road.
