Eli Benes

FOND DU LAC, Wi.- Attempting to stop their two-game losing skid, the Lakeshore Chinooks traveled to Fond du Lac to face the Dock Spiders on Thursday, June 25 at 6:35 pm CDT.

Succeeding their previous game against Fond du Lac on June 24 where they allowed 15 runs, the Chinooks were the first team to score. A two-out Bryan Lorenz RBI double marked just the second first-inning run allowed by Dock Spider starting pitcher Kyle Manship this season.

The Chinooks early lead quickly vanished, as the Dock Spiders tied the game in the bottom of the first inning on a Joey Arend RBI single. Tied 1-1 in the top of the third inning, the Chinooks took advantage of a Cade Sears leadoff double by brining him in to score on a Nick Allred sacrifice fly.

Drawing a walk after the Allred sacrifice fly, David Mysza stole second base and eventually scored on a David Hogg II RBI single to right field. The Chinooks ran wild in Thursday’s contest, swiping a season-high ten bags. Stealing four bases himself, Sears is now tied for sixth place in stolen bases in the Northwoods League.

Leading 3-1, the Chinooks added on to their lead in the fifth inning with a David Hogg II two-run single to extend their lead to four.

With a three-hit day bringing his batting average up to .377, Hogg II would have the sixth highest batting average in the Northwoods League for qualified batters if he had a minimum of 2.70 plate appearances per game.

In the bottom of the sixth inning, the Dock Spiders showed some fight, scoring two runs to cut the Chinooks lead down to two. The fighting effort from the Dock Spiders fell short, as the Chinooks tallied four runs in the final three innings for a 9-5 win.

Following a pair of eighth inning RBI singles from Kayden Berenz and Wyatt Gatlin, A two-run blast from David Hogg II in the ninth sealed the win for the Chinooks. With no multi-RBI games on the season entering Thursday, Hogg II erupted for five runs batted in.

Before the Chinooks closed out the game for the win, the Dock Spiders scored two two-out runs, forcing the Nooks to bring in their closer Zander Bretza. Bretza faced just one batter, Freezing Carson Willis on a breaking ball in the zone for the backwards K.

Playing a clean game behind their pitching staff, Thursday’s win was the fifth time the Chinooks defense followed up a previous game in which they committed an error with a clean sheet.

Coming out of Fond du Lac with the win, the Chinooks travel back home to Mequon, Wi to face the Minnesota Mud Puppies tomorrow, June 26 for the first time this season. The lone matchup between the two teams all-time came on June 21, 2024 where the Chinooks were victorious 3-2.