Green Bay, WI – After a lackluster season for the Lakeshore Chinooks against the division rival and 2023 Northwoods League Champions, Green Bay Rockers, a final home-and-home series looked to bring some light for the ‘Nooks as they close out their 2024 season.

Lakeshore has said farewell to several big names in the lineup with the departures of Brady and Jack Counsell, Joey Nerat, and Connor Hennings. The offensive firepower has stalled at times in the last week, but they are coming off of an eleven-run game where they claimed the title of ‘2024 Battle of the Border Champions.’ It’s a rivalry between Rockford and Lakeshore, who share homes on the opposite sides of the Wisconsin-Illinois border.

The Chinooks’ offense wouldn’t be as dominant in scoring runs tonight, however, they outhit a strong Green Bay team in a ballpark that is known not to be the friendliest for pitchers. Nolan Hines found that out the hard way when he gave up back-to-back home runs in the third allowing the Rockers to add to their one-run lead.

Tracing back to the second inning, an error allowed Matthews to reach second on a single into left field. He was followed with a walk to Allen which would prove themselves to be crucial baserunners when Makani Tanka came up three batters later and the bases loaded from a hit by pitch. He laced a single into right field that was deep enough to score both Matthews and Allen.

‘Nooks third baseman Ethan Hindle, who went 2-for-3 with 2 walks, an RBI and a run scored, collected his most valuable hit in the third. After two quick outs, three straight singles, including Hindle’s, allowed the Chinooks to put themselves on the board early. At the time, it cut the Rockers lead in half, but would eventually prove the closest Lakeshore would get to being back in the game.

After back-to-back homeruns in the third by Bold and Harms, the Rockers rounded out their scoring efforts in the fourth including ending the night for Hines with another deep ball over the shipping containers in right field.

The short wall in right has been a nightmare for ‘Nooks pitchers, and something of envy for the offense. Just twice the powerful hitters of the Chinooks lineup have dropped one over the short outfield wall. It’s an area that has painfully stuck out in their matchups with the Rockers at Capital Credit Union Park.

Light was shown for the struggling fish off the arm of Matthew Lopez. Lopez has tossed 19 innings for the ‘Nooks this summer since his arrival in late July, but his best has seemingly been saved for the end. He went four scoreless allowing just one hit in a head-t0-head matchup with some of the best hitters in the Northwoods League.

Lopez gained run support, two runs in the seventh, but it wasn’t enough to put him in position for his first win. Dominic Kibler showed the right field wall what he was all about, mashing a solo shot over. Then in a first and third situation, a double steal saw both runners safe including Ethan Hindle plating the last run for the Chinooks.

A huge takeaway for the ‘Nooks on the night was the pitching late in the game, including a hold moment from Lakeshore Chinooks Game Day Operations intern turned player, Tyler Danko. Danko got his first action on the road going 0.2 scoreless and letting up a lone infield hit. He struck out Will Johnson to end his debut. The Wisconsin Lutheran College pitcher got a last minute opportunity after throwing a bullpen between double-headers at the end of July and is now taking full advantage of his first taste in the Northwoods.

Connecting stellar pitching to run support has been the largest challenge this season and in the final week looks to be the largest task as the Chinooks close out an up-and-down 2024.

Lakeshore drops another game at Capital Credit Union Park, 6-3. They return home for the last game of the season against the Rockers searching for the last laugh, a victory at home. Tuesday’s game will start at 6:35 pm CST, and Wednesday the Chinooks will play their final home game of the season against the visiting first-place Mallards.

Article written by Sam Marchant.