Eli Benes

MEQUON, Wi.- Starting their last homestand of the season at a ballpark they are 27-6 in, the Lakeshore Chinooks on Wednesday, August 6 hosted the Madison Mallards for a two-game set at Moonlight Graham Field.

The Chinooks entered Wednesday with a half-game lead in the Great Lakes West despite coming off a road trip where they went 1-3.

With their magic number at four, a win against the Great Lakes West first-half winner would bring them one step closer to their first Northwoods League playoff appearance since 2017.

“[We] don’t really understand pressure,” Field Manager Brian Gregory said. “We have certain expectations of how we want to carry ourselves and the things we want to do during the course of a game. And when they can execute those things, the result takes care of itself.”

Looking to potentially extend their lead in the division, the Chinooks sent out their their innings leader on the season in Eli Niemiec.

Allowing a lone rune in his last start on July 31 against Royal Oak, the Mallards greeted the right hander by swinging out the gate. Pulling the trigger on the first pitches they saw, Ashton Quiller and Preston Yaucher reached on softly hit singles.

Following Yaucher in the order, Jonah Weathers brought in the first score of the game with a RBI single hit to center field. In the matter of moments, the Chinooks found themselves in a sticky situation with no outs recorded.

Keeping the damage at a minimum, Niemiec induced a double play and strikeout to end the inning and hold the Mallards to one run in the inning.

Down early, the offense wasted no time getting on the board. Following a leadoff double from Joshua Chairez, David Mysza for the second time this season left the yard for a two-run home run. Leading 2-1 after one inning complete, Niemiec settled in nicely.

From innings 2-4, Niemiec induced nine swings and misses while pounding the strike zone to let his team play behind him. Walking 14 batters in 18.2 first-half innings, Niemiec has improved his command in the second-half leading up to Wednesday walking eight batters in 21 innings.

“I think now I just want them to put it in play,” Niemiec said on his adjustment. “Try to get outs early [and] get deeper in the game. The strikeouts will come, you got to make them swing.”

Pitching a clean fifth and sixth inning, Niemiec received additional run support when Toufic Khabie put the Chinooks on the board for the first time since the opening inning with a RBI single in the fifth. In the bottom half of the following inning, Khabie stayed hot with a two-run double down the third base line.

Leading 5-1, Niemiec tossed a scoreless seventh inning after issuing just his second walk of the game to open the inning. Throwing 13 pitches in the inning and 94 total, Niemiec said it didn’t take much convincing of Gregory to go out on the mound in the eighth.

“As long as he was going to go out there and compete in the strike zone, it was his game,” Gregory said.

Pitching into the eighth inning for the first time this year, Niemiec induced a inning-ending 6-4-3 double play. Reaching his pitch limit, Niemiec ended his day with eight complete innings pitched and seven strikeouts.

Pitching for the Chinooks on a full-season contract and seeing the highs and lows for the club, Niemiec said it’s meant a lot to him to be able to be with the team all year long and build relationships.

[I’m] just going out and doing what I can to help the team win,” Niemiec said.

With Niemiec throwing his most pitches in a inning in the first when Madison swung early in counts, Gregory said the Mallards did his club a favor by being aggressive early.

“We saw what they were trying to do and it’s been a book on them all year. We were able to spin early and compete in the strike zone and create weak contact,” Gregory said.

After Niemiec’s impressive start, Gregory turned the ball over to Ben Groeschl, who recorded three quick outs on 11 pitches to secure the 5-1 win.

With Kenosha helping the Chinooks out by beating Wausau Wednesday night, the Chinooks magic number is down to two with three games left in the regular season.

Looking for a set sweep over Madison tomorrow with first pitch at 6:05 pm CDT, the Chinooks have a chance to clinch the playoffs for the first time in nine years.