MEQUON, Wis. — Down 6-0 in the fourth inning to the Fond du Lac Dock Spiders (9-17), the Lakeshore Chinooks (9-16) have had their August-opening home game suspended to Friday. The game will be resumed where it left off — with the Chinooks’ Billy Scaldeferri set to lead off in the bottom of the fourth — tomorrow afternoon prior to the start of the regularly scheduled evening game of the home-and-home series.

In the top of the first, Chinooks’ center fielder Griffin Cameron made an excellent sliding grab while sprinting to a shallow fly ball. That came immediately after a Spiders’ bloop single, allowing starter Alex Redman (UW-La Crosse) to regain his bearings and complete the scoreless frame with a pop out.

Cameron got on in the bottom of the period with an opposite-field single, making his second good play in two opportunities. However, when he tried to steal second, Fond du Lac caught him in a pickle. Shortstop Brady Counsell kept pressure on with a hard-hit single, but Lakeshore couldn’t start the scoring.

Leading off the second, Fond du Lac designated hitter Tyler Neises (Georgia Tech) extended his franchise-record 38 straight games on-base with a double to right-center. But, Brady Counsell wiped him off the bases with a decisive underhanded throw to third to catch him being overzealous. A single to center to give Fondy runners on the corners, and two batters later, third baseman Miles Vandenheuvel (Eastern Arizona) opened the scoring with a sac fly to center.

Trying to start a rally, Scaldeferri roped a one-out single to left center. Right fielder Nash Rippen followed with a single of his own on his first pitch. Yet, once again, the Spiders’ middle infielders wiped the baserunners away, this time with a 4-5-3 double play.

Redman worked a scoreless third to keep the pressure on. In the bottom of the third, Cameron worked a full count walk and Brady Counsell matched him. Catcher Mason Schwalbach then made it three walks, setting up second baseman Jack Counsell with a two-out, bases-loaded opportunity. He would clobber a pitch to left in the middle of his at-bat, but the ball landed just two feet foul deep down the line. Instead, he struck out, igniting a visitors’ explosion.

For Fond du Lac, the magma bubbled up with two quick outs before finally erupting with two Spiders on. A 2-RBI double to right just one strike away from the inning’s end seemed to rattle Redman as he then walked the next batter and the Spiders’ fire spilt over the mountainside. All in all, the inning saw 10 batters come to plate as the arachnids spun a 6-0 lead.

There’s plenty of game remaining Friday with five innings to go as the Chinooks look to bounce back from an early deficit.

Lakeshore heads north to Herr-Baker Field to resume Thursday’s game in the fourth before facing Fond du Lac in a regularly-scheduled matchup Friday. First pitch in game two is set for 6:35 p.m. (CST).

Article written by David Jacobs.