In game two of this home-and-home series, the Lakeshore Chinooks (8-10) fell to the Fond du Lac Dock Spiders (10-9) 5-4 Friday night at Moonlight Graham Field.
“Some days, we’re good at hitting, (and) some days, we’re good at pitching, we just can’t seem to put it together,” Lakeshore first baseman Matt Deprey said. “Everybody’s pulling their weight, but we just need to come together as a team.”
The Dock Spiders didn’t wait long to get on the board. In the top of the first inning, Connor Cooney drew a leadoff walk and Jack Gorman brought him home with an RBI double to center field.
Jacob Anderson then stretched a single into a double to put runners on second and third with one out. Paul Wittemann put down a bunt that allowed another run to score, putting Fond du Lac ahead 2-0 heading into the bottom of the inning.
Fond du Lac added onto their lead in the top of the second inning. Barron Zamora hit a leadoff solo home run over the left center field wall to put his team up by three runs going into the next frame.
Lakeshore did not score until the bottom of the sixth inning. Grant Ross hit a leadoff single and stole second base to get into scoring position. Jacob Nelson then singled to center field to put runners at first and third with no outs.
Sam Hojnar grounded out to the right side to allow Ross to score, giving the Chinooks their first run of the night. Deprey singled to left field, which pushed another run across as Lakeshore headed into the seventh inning trailing 3-2.
The Dock Spiders responded in the following inning. Travis Strickler hit a one-out triple and Jacob Anderson hit a sacrifice fly, scoring Strickler and extending Fond du Lac’s lead to two runs.
In the top of the eighth, Fond du Lac tacked on another run. Zamora led off the inning with a double and advanced to third on a bunt. Cooney’s RBI single put his team ahead 5-2 heading into the bottom of the eighth.
Lakeshore struck again in the bottom of the eighth. After two quick outs, Hojnar reached first base on a drop third strikeout. Hojnar would then advance to second base on a throwing error by the Fond du Lac pitcher Tanner Smith.
Deprey drove in his second RBI of the night with a double to center field as the Chinooks still trailed by two runs. Drew Townsend kept the line moving with a double of his own, scoring Deprey and making the score 5-4 in favor of Fond du Lac.
However, the Chinooks were unable to complete the comeback, falling to the Dock Spiders 5-4 in their second straight loss.
Deprey led the way for Lakeshore tonight, going 2-for-3 with two RBIs. In his debut at home, Nelson went also 2-for-3.
In terms of his approach at the plate, Deprey said that teammate Joey Spence has been his hitting coach through his offensive struggles.
“I’ve been struggling a little bit at the beginning of the summer, so it’s good to have a couple knocks,” Deprey said. “He fixed a couple things with my swing, so credit those hits to him.”
Lakeshore starter Blake Kunz (3-2) got the loss, pitching one inning while giving up three hits and two runs.
The Chinooks are back in action tomorrow night against the Madison Mallards at Moonlight Graham Field. First pitch is set for 6:35 p.m. CST.
“Every day is a new day in the woods,” Deprey said. “We just have to come back, wake up ready to go. If we can put it together, we have the talent to do it. We’re in a good place to win any game, we just come out here and give it our best shot.”
