In the final game of their road trip, the Lakeshore Chinooks (7-7) fell to the Fond du Lac Dock Spiders (6-8) 8-4 Sunday afternoon at Herr-Baker Field.
The Dock Spiders got on the board first with a four-run first inning. In the bottom of the frame, Lakeshore starter Griffin Smith gave up two singles and a walk to load the bases with no outs. Teddy Deters then singled to right field to put his team up 1-0.
After a double play that left runners on second and third, Lorenzo Rios homered over the right field wall to give Fond du Lac a 4-0 lead heading into the second inning.
In the top of the following inning, Lakeshore grabbed two runs back. Back-to-back doubles by Drew Townsend and Adam Cootway allowed one run to score with one out. Cootway then scored on a throwing error as the Chinooks trailed 4-2 going into the bottom of the inning.
Fond du Lac tacked on one run in the bottom of the second inning. Lakeshore reliever Zach Slome gave up a double and an infield single to put runners on the corners with one out. An RBI fielder’s choice would extend the Dock Spiders’ lead to three runs
The Dock Spiders continued to extend their lead in the bottom of the fourth inning. To lead off the frame, Paul Wittman reached base via hit by pitch. He then stole second and would advance home on an RBI single by Travis Strickler, putting his team ahead 6-2.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, Fond du Lac added two more runs in its favor. Lakeshore reliever Dj Kojis walked back-to-back batters and hit another batter to load the bases with no outs. Kojis then walked another batter, bringing in one run for the Dock Spiders.
A fielding error allowed the second run to cross home plate, which gave Fond du Lac an 8-2 lead heading into the sixth inning.
After four scoreless innings, Lakeshore’s offense found its spark in the top of the seventh. Townsend got hit by pitch to start the frame and Cootway brought him home with a triple to center field. With two outs, Trey Becker was hit by a pitch to put runners on the corners.
Gabe Roessler came through with an RBI single to score another run for the Chinooks, making it 8-4 heading into the bottom of the frame.
However, the Chinooks were unable to rally back in the next two innings as they fell to the Dock Spiders, marking their seventh loss of the second half.
Cootway led the way for Lakeshore as he went 3-for-4 with two RBIs and was one home run short of the cycle. In the entire series against Fond du Lac, he went 8-for-9 with a total of six RBIs while scoring six runs.
The Chinooks are back in action on Tuesday night, facing off against the Kalamazoo Growlers (10-3) at Moonlight Graham Field. First pitch is set for 6:35 p.m. CST.
