Eli Benes

MEQUON, Wi.- Entering yesterday, June 14 one game under .500, The Lakeshore Chinooks took on the Wausau Woodchucks at 1:05 pm CDT at Moonlight Graham Field.

Yesterday’s matchup was the second game of a four-game series, with the Woodchucks winning game one 9-7, thanks to a g0-ahead two-run home run in the top of the ninth inning on Saturday.

Winless through three games against Wausau, the Chinooks earned their first win against the Woodchucks 9-7. The Chinooks trailed 4-1 through 4 1/2 innings, but broke through in the bottom half of the fifth inning in a big way, scoring seven runs on just two hits.

The Woodchucks allowed three two-out runs to score due to back-to-back infield errors. Assistant coach Brian Gregory said Saturday’s loss was demoralizing, but the team focused on winning pitches in Sunday’s game.

“I told these guys that [if] they can win enough pitches, you’re going to win innings, and if you win innings you can win the baseball game,” Gregory said.

In that fifth inning, 11 Chinooks came up to bat, with just one striking out.

“We put the ball in play and put pressure on them. Good things happened,” Gregory said.

Holding a commanding 9-5 lead heading into the top of the ninth inning, the Woodchucks put a scare into the home team by loading the bases with two outs. In a pinch-hit situation, Kyler Northrup delivered a two-run bloop single into centerfield to cut the Chinooks lead down to two.

Despite not having his best stuff on the mound and allowing two runs in 1.1 innings pitched, Zander Bretza induced a groundball hit to Casey Robinson, who stepped on third base for the win.

“I knew he had some traffic… but he did a great job,” Gregory said. “He’s got confidence in us and we have confidence in him.”

The Chinooks had another successful day at the plate after a seven-run performance in Saturday’s loss. Scoring nine runs, the Chinooks put constant pressure on the basepaths by drawing six walks and reaching base on three errors.

Wyatt Gatlin and Aukai Kea collected multi-hit performances, with Gatlin hitting his first home run of the season in the seventh inning.

Kea’s second hit of the game came in the form of an RBI single and started the seven-run fifth inning rally. On the RBI single to right field, Kea’s approach was to drive the ball to the opposite side of the field.

“It did feel really nice to execute my plan and get the boys going,” Kea said.

Facing the Northwoods league home run leader in Wausau, Kea said the Chinooks tried to stay low with their pitches.

“Damage pitches are always up,” Kea said. “We just tried to attack the bottom of the zone and it worked out.”

Following through with that plan, the Chinooks allowed just one extra-base hit in Sunday’s contest.

Now 9-9 on the season, the Chinooks have an opportunity to get over .500 for the second time this season, with first pitch tonight at 6:05 pm CDT.