MEQUON, Wis. — Chinooks starter Michael Gray threw five scoreless, Isaiah Terrell tossed two scoreless to pick up the save, and All-Star Dominic Kibler smoked an RBI double off the wall in left in the Chinooks’ (7-13) 1-0 win over the Rafters (13-9).

Gray (Denison University) punched out seven in his five frames of squeaky clean baseball, only allowing three hits with no walks as he put himself in position for an elusive starter win.

“We’re in a little bit of a skid, which is unfortunate, but I knew we had to get a win and I did what I could to get us there, and we won so it was great,” the left-handed pitcher said.

The fastball-breaking ball starter relied heavily on his off-speed stuff early in Friday’s mid-afternoon affair. He jumped on Wisconsin Rapids hitters with the slider, using the pitch for each of his first five strikeouts.

“He’s got two main pitches and (the slider) was landing, and he can get swing and misses in the dirt on it,” manager Mitch Rogers said. “He did a really good job of getting ahead with it and buried them late in counts with it all day.”

Gray cast clouds over the Rafters early, recording his initial strikeout for the third out of the first.

In the Chinooks’ batting half of the first, Kibler sharply grounded a ball up the middle, but Wisconsin Rapids shortstop Trotter Boston made an excellent spin and throw over to first to nab him.

The Lakeshore starter confirmed he would be dealing all afternoon in the second. He finished the first Rafter with a slider low and away for a three-pitch strikeout and then tallied another ‘K with the same breaking ball to get the next guy.

Finally creating a threat in the top of the third, the Rafters singled to left. But as the runner scampered toward second, Gray used his spidey senses to pick off the runner on a full count with one gone. On the next pitch, the southpaw dotted another breaking ball on the outside corner for his fourth strikeout in the first three frames.

For Lakeshore, the third inning provided the only run of the contest. Designated hitter Sam Hunt reached on an error and was replaced by the speedy Griffin Cameron on a fielder’s choice. Then, Cameron stole second and Kibler came to plate. He drubbed a double off the wall in left to give the Chinooks blood.

It would turn out to be the only score of the seven inning game.

Gray kept up his lightning-quick pace on the mound as he tossed three more punch outs in the fourth and fifth innings. He closed his outing with just 65 pitches thrown.

“In these seven-inning, shorter games, you just go out and give it all you got right from the start,” the Denison pitcher said.

Terrell (College of Lake County) followed his fellow Lakeshore lefty with two clean frames as he struck out two to pick up the save, his first in two seasons in the Northwoods League.

Cameron and Kibler nearly combined for another score in the fifth after Cameron stole second. The outfielder then stole third as the catcher drew a four-pitch walk. Kibler then stole second as well, but left fielder Joey Nerat broke his bat on a groundout to first.

In the seventh, just two outs away from a shutout victory, second baseman Jack Counsell made a great play to snare a one-hopper and keep the bases empty. Then, the lefty perfectly placed a slider for a strikeout to end game one of the doubleheader.

The win snapped a seven-game losing streak for Lakeshore, and the Chinooks get a chance to maintain the positive momentum as they get the Rafters in game two of the doubleheader tonight at 6:35 p.m. (CST) once again at Moonlight Graham Field.

Article written by David Jacobs. Image by Krisjanis Kaugars.