MEQUON, Wis (WYATT BAUMEYER). — After missing over a week due to injury, Lakeshore Chinooks’ shortstop David Hogg II returned Friday against the Kenosha Kingfish in search of his first signature moment. 

 

Trailing 4-2 in the seventh, Hogg stepped up to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs. After a strikeout in the previous inning, Hogg looked to get revenge and deliver the hit the Chinooks had looked for all night. 

 

With two strikes, Hogg got a hold of a fastball and lined a bases-clearing double into left-center field, giving Lakeshore a 5-4 lead and igniting a three-run late-inning comeback en route to a 6-5 win over the Kingfish Friday night at Moonlight Graham Field. 

 

“I wanted to come through for the boys,” Hogg said. 

 

Hogg said he tells himself to always be ready for the next opportunity, and the shortstop surely did so after striking out in the sixth. 

 

“He’s a difference maker,” Chinooks’ manager Mikel Moreno said of his star shortstop out of Louisiana State University. “He’s super talented and is a great kid.”

 

Moreno said his original plan was to reaccumulate Hogg by sitting him for a day or two; however, Hogg kept texting Moreno, saying he wanted to play. 

 

Hogg is a gamer who is fundamentally sound defensively, on the bases and at the plate, Moreno said. His influence on the team as a whole cannot be replaced. 

 

Despite Hogg’s immediate impact on the field, the Chinooks struggled to hold the lead. 

 

Leading 6-5 – left-fielder Jacob Kowes added a run on a two-out single scoring Hogg, after his double, in the seventh –  the eighth inning, Moreno called upon right-handed closer Zander Bretza with the tying run on second base and no one out. 

 

The previous reliever, right-hander Jacob Jacome, surrendered an RBI single to Kenosha catcher Ivan Dahlberg – Dahlberg went 4-4 with two doubles and a home run – that scored a run after a leadoff three-base error by the left fielder Kowes. 

 

With little room for error, Bretza slammed the door, striking out five of the remaining six Kingfish to seal the Fish Bowl Series victory for the Chinooks. 

 

In such a high-leverage situation, Brezta remained calm and focused.

 

“Breathing is my biggest thing,” Bretza said on what keeps him calm in big moments.

 

The Chinooks’ closer rebounded Friday night after allowing three earned runs against Fond du Lac on June 8. 

 

Another key pitching performance Friday night came in right-hander Brandin Crawford’s Chinooks debut. Crawford, who arrived from Louisville, allowed no earned runs over three innings while striking out three on some nasty breaking balls and lively fastballs. 

 

“That’s what he’s gonna do,” Moreno said of Crawford’s ability to dominate hitters. “He’s going to get a lot of innings here.”

 

When the Chinooks’ pitching or offense wasn’t delivering in the clutch, newly dubbed outfielder Tyler Preece led the defense. 

 

Preece, who said he’d never played outfield before at the college level, started in right field on a very windy evening.  

 

Instead of struggling, Preece showcased his defensive versatility by making a diving catch, preventing a extra bases. 

 

“He’s just a baseball player,” Moreno said of Preece’s ability all over the field. “He goes out there and makes plays.” 

 

Preece’s performance Friday night came after a surprise appearance by his mother, something the player did not expect.

 

Lakeshore finishes its season-long six-game homestand 3-3 and heads West to Madison to take on the Mallards Saturday. 

 

Left-hander Chance Covert II is expected to start as the Chinooks begin a four-game road trip before returning to take on the Wausau Woodchucks on Wednesday, June 18.