Green Bay, WI – Lakeshore (6-6) headed to Green Bay Monday to play the Rockers (3-9) trying to steal a game back before returning to Moonlight Graham Field for a four-game home stand. It’s the battle of the pinstripes, Chinooks in their black with light blue tops, and Rockers in the all-white with blue.
The Chinooks fell behind early on after Mitch Alba faced eight Rockers in the bottom of the first. Rockers hitters chipped away one base at a time. Three walks and two singles were the culprits of the damage that allowed Green Bay to jump ahead 2-0.
Alba settled in after a lively first and sat down six straight with the help of three strikeouts.
In the fourth, Ty Wisdom, sent a ball on a line to right field that ricocheted off the scoreboard to slice the lead in half at 2-1 Green Bay. A walk and back-to-back singles loaded the bases up for Lakeshore, but they wouldn’t push across a run.
Mitch extended the streak to nine, adding two more strikeouts, and was fired up about it. The fire extended to the hitters and the first three men would reach on a hit by pitch, and back-to-back singles. With bases loaded, Wisdom stepped up to the plate again. This time he rolled a ground ball to short that allowed Outlaw to score and even the game up at two.
Outlaw continued to spray hits across the turf in the sixth with his single with two outs. Staying perfect at 2-for-2 and reaching all three times he stepped up to the plate. With two-on and two-out the Chinooks looked to take the lead, but a well played ball down the line was fielded for an out by first baseman Matthews.
Alba would get pushed out of the game after a double-play was dropped on the transition resulting in both runners being safe. Walters came in and struck out Matthews, but ran into trouble allowing both men he inherited to score giving Alba four earned runs. A fielder’s choice surrendered another run for the Chinooks in the inning before he induced a line out to center that ended the inning.
The seventh-inning started with a single from Deboskie for his second hit in as many at-bats. It was followed by a walk and hit by pitch. Roessler walked with two outs and would push across a run bringing the Chinooks back to a familiar place, down two.
Evan Shapiro kept the game where it was at, striking out the side.
Getting another two-out rally in the works, Deboskie singled to right field and swiped second base his twelfth of the 13 game season. A second-chance opportunity for Ty Wisdom led to a walk bringing up Gene Trujillo. He has the Chinooks latest home run and was looking to do some damage in a pitch. Attacking first pitch, he just missed his pitch, popping out, and ending the inning.
Shapiro handled his business again in the eighth, retiring the heart of Green Bay’s lineup in order.
Down to their last out, the Chinooks looked for another two-out rally, but would be denied. They drop their second in as many games and three of last four.
For the first time in the 13-game season, the Chinooks drop below .500. It was the story of missed opportunities for the Chinooks as they had bases-loaded twice in the game with only two runs to show for it. Lakeshore returns home and looks to be more aggressive at the plate.
“Offensively we weren’t good enough tonight,” manager Trevor Cho said in a post-game interview. Adding, “I think we should win that game with how offensive this park can be.” The comment is targeted at an odd outfield that sees a short outfield wall, and long corner in center field.
Pitchers dealt especially in the late-innings out of the bullpen, but capitalization wouldn’t come from a “passive” Chinooks offense. Cho wants outs to be more productive and in an aggressive way, needing more motor and pace to stay consistent and translate out on the field.
Lakeshore looks to pick-up some more home wins as they start a four-game home stand starting with the Kalamazoo Growlers. First pitch is set for 6:35 at Moonlight Graham Field on Tuesday.
Article written by Sam Marchant.
