Mequon, WI — After a class loss in game one of a doubleheader against the Fond du Lac Dock Spiders (4-6), the Lakeshore Chinooks stood their ground in game two. Starter Ryan Karst threw five scoreless innings in his second straight dominant outing, and the Chinooks hit two home runs in the fourth to blast their way to a 5-2 win.

Karst, who went 7.0 IP with just 2 ER in his last start, crushed the Spiders Thursday. He drew two fly outs to center and then, later in the first, worked around two baserunners to throw a scoreless first.

Chinooks center fielder Griffin Cameron did his best to start a rally. He ripped a base hit and then stole second. Then, after Kentucky and Lakeshore teammate Ethan Hindle walked, Cameron captained a double steal. It was his 16th of the season, moving him into a tie for the team lead.

In the second, Karst battled with two hard hits. One ball whizzed by his knees, but yet, he maintained his composure to finish it off with another zero.

The Chinooks couldn’t get any threats going in the second or third, and as the 0-0 pitcher’s duel developed, Karst fell under pressure once again in the top of the fourth.

First, Karst dotted a sinker on the low and away corner for a Backwards ‘K. The next batter, he saw the opposite fate, pitching a full count walk. Then, another walk brought a Spider into scoring position for Fond du Lac. The Madison College pitcher bounced back to maintain the zero. And finally, runs came hard and fast.

However, right fielder Vidal Colon had help in banging runs in, and not from another Chinooks player. Instead, it was a young fan that helped him.

As Colon came to the plate in the second inning, kids came up to him and begged him to try for a triple. He claimed he didn’t have the speed. Then, they clamored for an inside-the-park home run.

In the fourth, the Lakeshore slugger made good on the prophetic request. He slapped a one-hop extra-base hit over the head of the center fielder and didn’t stop chugging until he got home. The result? An inside-the-park home run for Colon and three runs for the Chinooks.

“It’s awesome just having the kids around… especially just kids coming on deck and calling my name, it’s something I look forward to in the on deck circle,” Colon said. “When I got to third I slowed down, but [hitting coach Levi Jensen] was waving me and I was like ‘Ah man, I gotta get going again!'”

Colon’s was the third straight ‘Nook hit, sandwiched by a ground rule double from first baseman Mason Schwalbach and a single from shortstop Billy Scaldeferri. Then, pinch-hitting Connor Hennings made an extremely loud entrance to the game.

The Current Electric Superhero of game one of the doubleheader absolutely clobbered the first pitch he saw over the left field wall for a true no-doubter, the Chinooks’ fourth and fifth runs of the frame.

Hennings’ homer was his fourth hit of the day and provided an exclamation point on the inning.

It also allowed Karst to get to work knowing he had a lead to work with. With one man on and one man gone in the fifth, Karst allowed a line drive to Spiders designated hitter Drew Barragan. But left fielder Joey Nerat converted the hard contact into an out for his pitcher, robbing an extra-base hit from a Chinooks killer — one who has put up 16 RBIs in eight games against Lakeshore.

Karst finished his outing in fine fashion with five frames flipped and no runs allowed. He had 4 Ks and 91 pitches while only permitting seven runners to reach base.

In the sixth, left-hander Glenn Simes made his first appearance with the team. He retired all three batters rapidly, getting each Spider on just two pitches.

But, the seventh wasn’t as friendly to Simes. With two out and two on, Barragan doubled into the push-side gap to score two Spiders. 5-2, Chinooks.

From there, Lakeshore pitched lockdown baseball. Simes slung two strikeouts, and a nice play and throw by Scaldeferri to get the last out helped him keep the three-run lead in place with just one inning to go.

The Chinooks nearly added on in the bottom of the eighth after second baseman Brady Counsell clipped a ball to deep center but it just missed the warning track. Then, book-ending the inning, Schwalbach welted a pitch to left, but it too was caught on the turf track.

Newcomer Braden Welch admitted to nerves when he was called upon in the ninth in a save situation, but he surely didn’t show it on the mound. He drew groundouts to short and second, and then calmly forced a high fly out to right.

The 5-2 victory brought an end to the Chinooks’ fourth game in less than two days, a stretch in which the team saw two low-scoring wins and two high-scoring losses.

After ending the doubleheader on a high note, the Chinooks head to Wisconsin Rapids to face the Rafters for a Friday-Saturday road set at Witter Park, where both games start at 6:35 p.m. (CST).

Article written by David Jacobs. Image by Krisjanis Kaugars.