Eli Benes

MEQUON, Wi.- “We’re just a group of guys that want to go out there and win every at bat, win every inning and every game. That’s the goal,” Chinook Bryan Lorenz said after hitting a walk-off single to defeat the Madison Mallards 8-7 Thursday night.

To bring Lorenz up to the plate in the bottom of the ninth, a pair of singles put runners on the corners. With the infield and outfield playing in with one out, a hard hit ball to the right-center field gap left no doubt within the Chinook faithful.

In a full count, Lorenz’s approach of hitting the ball hard never wavered.

“It will always be the same. You put the ball hard in play and good things will happen,” Lorenz said.

For what ended up being a nail biting contest, the Chinooks led comfortably for most of the game. Trailing 2-0 through 2 1/2 innings, the Chinooks scored five unanswered runs from innings 3-5.

Despite a two-run effort from Madison in the top of the seventh inning, a Cade Sears two-run home run brought the Chinooks lead back to three at 7-4. It wasn’t until the top of the ninth inning that Madison put a scare into the home crowd.

A hit-by-pitch and walk put runners on first and second base with zero outs. Up 1-0, Marcelino Alonso brought the score within a run with a two-run double. Advancing to third on the play, he eventually scored due to a wild pitch.

Allowing the three runs to score, Gibbs was able to stop the scoring with two groundouts to end the inning. Gibbs was one of four relievers to pitch in Thursday’s contest, with starter Eli Niemiec walking five batters in 2.2 innings pitched. 

The subsequent pitcher after Niemiec’s short start provided much needed length for the Chinooks pitching staff. In his fifth appearance of the season, Ben Groeschl recorded a season-high 3.1 innings pitched, allowing zero runs and a minor two hits.

From the last out of the top of the fourth inning to the final out of the top of the sixth inning, Groeschl retired seven consecutive batters.

“He came in, was a bridge and was able to shorten the game up for us. He did a really good job,” Field Manager Mikel Moreno said.

Another highlight of Thursday’s win, was the overall offensive production for the Chinooks. Their 14 hits marks a season-high, with all but one hitter in the starting lineup producing a base hit.

“Offensively that’s our best game we’ve had all year in terms of one through nine, staying with it and being competitive to our pitch in the zone,” Moreno said.

In all but three innings, the leadoff man got on base via base hit or walk. Consistent pressure on the bases resulted in a run scored in five of the nine innings.

Key performances on the offense came from David Hogg II and Sears, who both collected three hits. With the three-hit performance, Hogg II now carries a .361 batting average through ten games.

With the win, the Chinooks are once again back at .500 at 11-11, sitting two games behind Madison for third place in the Great Lakes West division with three games left to play in their four-game series.