Mequon, WI – A day removed from a historic night that saw Mueller brothers Matthew and Mitch strike out 20 Growlers batters, Lakeshore looked to get another strong start on the mound. This time it was Seaver Sheets who has quietly been a lockdown arm to start the season after a rocky first appearance.
Lakeshore’s defense would get a lot more action tonight and they delivered behind Sheets. Behind nine innings of errorless baseball, the Chinooks spread the love. The ball was sent around the field with every fielder being given at least one chance on a play and all recording a put-out or assist in the game.
To lead off the game Vidal Colon, starting in left field, laced a double off the center field wall that put him on second. A strong start for an offense looking to pressure early. Colon was moved to third on a Deboskie ground out, but stranded there, the closest the Chinooks would get to scoring in the game.
Coming off one of the worst offensive performances Kalamazoo has had all season, they looked for a reset game. Although the strike out column wasn’t as lit-up, Growlers’ hitters still struggled early on to get strong contact off of Seaver. He breezed through four innings allowing just two hits and holding anyone from reaching scoring position. However, the fifth would come with a threat to Sheets blank slate. After a 1-out single, Ilitch grounded out to Jack Counsell putting a runner in scoring position for K-Zoo. Paulina drove a ball to right field that died just in front of a diving Connor Hennings and scooted to the wall. The hit went down for an RBI triple, putting the Growlers ahead one.
Seaver’s strong performance didn’t mean a lot for him considering the result was a loss. Seaver took a last-minute opportunity to join the Northwoods League while getting hooked up with the Chinooks. An opportunity he hopes will help him get a lot of innings and experience while propelling the team to wins and eventually the title.
An emerging leader in Gabe Roessler uses the strong defensive performance to lead into strong at-bats, especially for those facing early struggles. “You feed off your defense. You keep making plays that brings your confidence back.”
Using strong defense to generate momentum has been the key early-on.
“Get quick zeros, that builds momentum for us. That we’re out there for the shortest amount of time.” Continuing on Roessler said, “being able to go out and come back as quick as we can [keeps it going].”
Defensively becoming more well-rounded and consistent everyday, the Chinooks have been assisted by the addition of their full-time players. The consistency in guys around the club and on the field has built chemistry among the defense, especially trust.
Lakeshore collected their second hit of the game following the score change off the bat of Jack Counsell. With two-away in the inning, though, they couldn’t string anything together to counter the Growlers.
Insurance was called for in the seventh by Kalamazoo, taking a 3-0 lead during a Korbin Griffin plate appearance. Ryan Karst, who replaced Sheets in the 6th after 5 2/3 innings, pulled a ball too far skidding away from the block attempt by catcher Hunt. Two pitches later, Griffin singled to center driving in the second run 0f the inning, and his at bat.
One last run was added for the Growlers again on a Griffin at-bat by way of a wild pitch, however, this time off the arm of right-hander Caden Morton.
For the last out in the top of the ninth a combacker off the leg of Caden Morton rolled to the waiting arms of first-baseman Gene Trujillo who applied the tag on a diving Acres. Using defense to create offense, Hennings crushed a ball off the deepest part of the center field wall for a 1-out triple. Again, though, the Chinooks stalled and would fall 4-0.
Royal Oak comes to town tomorrow for a two-game series to finish off the first Lakeshore homestand of the season. Lakeshore will look to have a stronger offensive out-put starting with strong defense. First pitch is set for 6:35 pm CST.
Article written by Sam Marchant. Image by Krisjanis Kaugars.
