In game two of the doubleheader, the Lakeshore Chinooks (8-15) fell to the Fond du Lac Dock Spiders (9-15) 6-4 Wednesday night at Moonlight Graham Field.
“Offensively, (we) let both starters get settled in a little too much,” Lakeshore field manager Trevor Cho said. “Too many errors. (It’s) Extremely tough to win a baseball game if you have five errors. We didn’t get the big hit late, all controllable stuff. The last three games have pretty much been the same thing.”
Just like in the first game, the Dock Spiders got on the board first. In the top of the third inning, Travis Strickler reached first on an error committed by the left fielder Hunter Grimes. Teddy Deters then hit a single to right field to put runners at first and second with no outs.
In the next play, Lakeshore starter Jason Schaaf picked up a grounder and threw it to Josh Overbeek at third to get the first out. Overbeek tried to throw out the runner at first, but threw the ball away, allowing a run to score and putting Fond du Lac up 1-0 heading into the bottom of the frame.
The Dock Spiders tacked on another run in the following inning. Seth Sweet-Chick drew a one-out walk to get on base and advanced to second on a pass ball. Jacob Anderson then hit a single to center field to put Fond du Lac in front 2-0.
Lakeshore didn’t earn its first hit of the night until the bottom of fifth when Brady Counsell singled up the middle.
In the top of the seventh, Fond du Lac plated yet another run. It started with a leadoff single by Jack Gormon who then stole second to get into scoring position. Strickler singled to center and stole second to put runners on second and third with no outs.
Deters then grounded out which pushed one run across the plate for the Dock Spiders to put them up 3-0.
The Chinooks were able to get on the board in the bottom of the seventh. Overbeek drew a leadoff walk to get on base. Cody Kelly then roped a double down the right field line to score Overbeek from first, cutting its deficit to two.
Will Johannes and Grant Ross both drew walks to load up the bases with one out. Another walk drawn by Hunter Grimes would bring in another run for the Chinooks. Joey Spence was hit by a pitch in the next at-bat, and just like that, the game was tied 3-3.
Lakeshore’s offense wasn’t done as Brady Counsell singled to left field to bring in the go-ahead run going into the eighth inning.
However, Fond du Lac was quick to respond in the following inning. Lorenzo Rios kicked things off with a leadoff single, but was thrown out at second due to fielder’s choice, leaving a runner on first.
Nate Mieszkowski dropped an infield pop fly, putting runners on first and second and marking Lakeshore’s fifth error of the night. Connor Cooney then hit a ground-rule double to tie this game once again 4-4.
Cho said that he felt the errors were due to the coaching staff as well as the players.
“The Dock Spiders had to play the same amount of games in the same amount of innings today,” Cho said. “(You) hope that they’re (errors) mental. That can go back on the coaching staff and myself if you’re not putting guys in the right spots to make plays.”
The Dock Spiders scored two more runs in the top of the ninth to regain the lead. Lakeshore reliever Gradin Taschner walked a batter that then advanced to second on a pass ball. Taschner walked another batter before he was removed from the game.
With runners on first and second, a sacrifice bunt moved the runners to second and third. Sweet-Chick came through for Fond du Lac as his single up the middle scored two runs and gave his team a 6-4 lead.
That hit would be the difference in this game as the Chinooks could not rally back in the bottom of the ninth, suffering their fourth straight loss.
Lakeshore was outhit 11-7 on the night. Both Ross and Counsell went 2-for-4 at the plate tonight with Counsell also earning an RBI.
Overbeek, who led the post-game talk after the game, said that the coaches wanted them to talk together as a team.
“(I) tried to light a little fire into them and let them know that I have their back,” Overbeek said. “It should be the same way with everybody. Wherever you play (or) even if you don’t, it takes a little bit of everybody.”
The Lakeshore Chinooks will take on the Wausau Woodchucks (14-10) tomorrow night at Moonlight Graham Field. First pitch is set for 6:35 p.m. CST.
“You get one chance at this game, and it will eat your lunch if you’re not paying attention,” Overbeek said. “It’s one of those things (where) it has to come together. You can’t have a good team without good teammates. Without every one of those guys coming together, we’re not going to win.”