The last time Lakeshore (8-8) faced Royal Oak (8-9), it fell behind as much as 17 runs.

Thursday could not have been more different.

This time, it was the Chinooks in their helicopter green uniforms flying away with the Leprechauns’ pot of gold in a 4-1 victory. It was a “comprehensive” victory for the ‘Nooks, highlighted by a Billy Scaldeferri home run and five scoreless innings from Luke Hansel.

Hansel didn’t have his best stuff out of the gates, which he attributed to poor sleep and a slight cold. Yet, he faced the minimum in the first.

Royal Oak pitcher Nick Williams agreed to make it a quick inning, striking out the side to start his night and reminding the Chinooks of their shutout loss from Tuesday evening.

Then, in the top of the second, the Leprechauns’ leadoff hitter reached for the second straight inning. Chinooks RF Connor Hennings made a great play on the next batter, gliding and catching a flare to prevent a dreaded two-on and no-out headache for his pitcher. CF Prince Deboskie then snuffed a hard-hit ball to left center, showing his wheels again. With two outs, 2B Jack Counsell one-upped his teammates by easing a hard-hit one-hopper into his glove and over to first.

In the bottom of the frame, 1B Gene Trujillo scorched the first ball in play for the Chinooks with a double down the right field line.  C Dominic Kibler kept the threat alive with an infield single, bringing to bat an RBI opportunity for Counsell. The patient middle infielder, entering play with a .294 average but 0 RBI, took two balls, allowing Kibler to steal second and put two in scoring position for the ‘Copters.

Counsell made good on his chance, knocking an infield single toward second base. Kibler tried to catch the defense sleeping, aggressively gunning for home, but was tagged out.

Chinooks Field Manager Trevor Cho took exception to the way Leprechaun C Oliver Service blocked the plate on Kibler’s slide. Yet, maintaining his typical even-keeled attitude, he refused to detail any strong emotions shared during his extensive conversation.

“I just asked if it was obstruction, and he said no. That was about it.”

Spotted a one-run lead, Hansel allowed a double by the second batter and with two outs sprayed his first toss to advance the runner. Another, more mild wild pitch saw a second runner get into scoring position. But once again, Hansel bounced back in a big way, stranding both Leprechauns with a backwards “K”.

Scaldeferri stung a single into left to start the third, and stole second soon after. Deboskie came up two batters later and, hitting in the 2-spot, worked the count full. He stood still, making a calculated risk in taking strike three once he saw Scaldeferri stealing third. Newcomer Mason Schwalbach couldn’t score him, but the chance maintained momentum for the Chinooks.

Hansel was again in the stretch in the fourth inning, fighting a Leprechaun in scoring position with two outs. On the final pitch of the period, SS Gabe Roessler was a foot left of second base, holding the runner who’d just threatened to steal. Roessler broke toward the hole right as Hansel released. Perfectly in stride, he snagged a soft line out to keep the ‘Chauns scoreless.

“[Our good fielding] is really big because you don’t necessarily have the same guys behind you every single day… you got guys making plays all over the place and it’s really cool to see them gaining confidence,” Hansel said.

Kibler opened the Lakeshore fifth with his second infield single in two at-bats. He quickly sprinted into scoring position on a poor delivery from Williams that reached the backstop. Counsell tagged a pitch to center, moving the Chinooks catcher to third on a functional sacrifice fly.

And just a half inning after the Chinook helicopter flew over Moonlight Graham Field, Las Vegas native Scaldeferri chopped a grounder to third. Kibler would again gamble on the accuracy of the Leprechauns. Betting on his legs paid off when the Royal Oak catcher missed the tag at home plate, putting Lakeshore up two and Hansel in good position for a win.

Hansel’s final line would be 5.0 IP with just five baserunners allowed and 0 ERs. He’s lasted at least five innings with two runs or fewer in all three starts.

Yet, the 6-footer’s consistency comes just as much from his pencil as it does his throwing arm.

“Writing in the journal [every night] gets me prepared for that domination on the mound,” Hansel said. “Today, I was pretty proud of how I was able to battle.”

Behind a new pitcher, Scaldeferri flashed the leather on a stellar throw to get the first batter of the sixth. Roessler and Cho noted previously he’s turned into a stalwart in the infield.

“100% credit to Billy. His defense has been phenomenal and he hasn’t even played a game of college baseball yet,” Cho said of the Grand Canyon product.

Though Lakeshore couldn’t add on in the sixth, Roessler ensured a continued shutout in the top of the seventh with an unassisted double play.

Then, in the bottom of the frame, Scaldeferri kept the ‘Nooks adrift.

As a man with a dream career in broadcasting baseball, Scaldeferri chuckled while re-enacting his “call” of home run No. 1 with Lakeshore.

“You gotta be really energetic with it! I would’ve said ‘Long deep drive to left center field and it’s gone.'”

‘Breakout Billy’ continued his personal hot streak in the eighth by recording the first two outs, both ground balls he charged forward at.

The Chinooks finally ran into trouble just four outs away from a win. A line single on the ground to right set the stage for a Service RBI double to left, cutting the Lakeshore lead to two.

In came Tyler Deleskiewicz.

He plunked the first batter, which the Leprechauns enjoyed from the dugout. But as fellow UW-Milwaukee pitcher Hansel did before him, Deleskiewicz bounced back with a standing strikeout to end the inning.

Bottom 8th: Deboskie strikeout, Schwalbach walk, [catcher throwing error on back pick attempt, moving runner to second] Hennings made contact and run scores after first baseman completely misplays ground ball and it scoots under his glove into right allowing runner to score and keeping other runner safe at first (4, 1), Trujillo walk, Roessler swinging strikeout, Kibler walk, Counsell strike swinging

The win brought the Chinooks back to .500 on the season and separated them from the fourth-place Wisconsin Rapids Rafters, who Lakeshore visits Saturday.

However, the ‘Nooks still have Royal Oak on their minds with game 2 set for 6:35 p.m. (CST) Friday evening at Moonlight Graham Field.

“It’s a lot of games, but certain games within the marathon just mean more, and being able to sweep at home on a Friday night is a great time to empty the tank.”

Article written by David Jacobs. Photo by Krisjanis Kaugars.