By Deann Davidson

Wisconsin Rapids, WI – The Chinooks traveled to face the Wisconsin Rapids Rafters who are first place in the division. Lakeshore’s offense fell short and the Chinooks lost 11-7.

Jim Jarecki took the mound for Lakeshore and faced opposing pitcher Jack Sinclair. Neither pitcher lasted more than two innings.

In the first, the Chinooks got started early with a leadoff double from Mike Trautwein. With one out, Trautwein crossed the plate on an RBI-single from Jake Thompson. The Chinooks would leave two runners stranded on base though after a flyout and a strikeout. The Rafters answered quickly with a leadoff single followed by a sacrifice bunt. Jarecki then walked Davion Downey to put runners at first and second. Osvaldo Tovalin came up to the plate with two outs and delivered for Wisconsin Rapids with a bases-clearing double, giving the Rafters a 2-1 lead. 

Lakeshore threatened in the second after a Cal Djuraskovic relieved Sinclair and issued a walk, followed by a single and another walk to load the bases with no outs. Djuraskovic recovered though and sent the next three Chinooks down swinging to get out of the jam. The Rafters tacked on another two runs after Jarecki walked Roman Trujillo who then stole second and scored on a two-run homer from Richie Scheikofer. Lakeshore trailed 4-1.

In the third, Daryl Myers led off with a double and scored on an RBI-single from Troy Black to bring Lakeshore within two runs. Black advanced to third on a single from Justin Olson and then scored on a single from Gunnar Hellstrom to make it a 4-3 ballgame. Tony Grabowske relieved Jarecki in the bottom of the third and faced the minimum.

Hayden Petrovick came in for Djuraskovic for the fourth inning and walked Barr to put the leadoff man on for the Chinooks. A double from Thompson put runners at second and third. Myers then singled and scored Barr to tie the game at four. In the bottom of the inning, Grabowske once again faced the minimum.

In the fifth, Hellstrom reached on a walk and advanced to third after back to back singles from Trautwein and Barr. A walk issued to Thompson scored Hellstrom and gave the Chinooks a 5-4 lead. Myers singled and both Carr and Trautwein scored and Lakeshore had three-run lead. In the bottom of the inning, the Rafters put a runner in scoring position after a walk and a single, but were unable to score.

Neither team scored in the sixth and Lakeshore could not get a runner across the plate in the seventh. Back-to-back singles and a walk loaded the bases for Wisconsin Rapids and a walk to Jake Dunham scored Peter Matt. Blake Harseim relieved Joe Roundtree for the Chinooks who struck out Harry Fullerton. However, the Rafters tied the game when two runs scored on a fielder’s choice from Edarian Williams and an error by Thompson at second. The Rafters took the lead once again on an RBI-single from Schiekofer.

Despite putting runners on second and third after a single, a walk, and a wild pitch, the Chinooks could not score in the eighth. Troy Black took the mound for Lakeshore in the bottom of the inning and gave up a leadoff walk to Matt who then stole second and scored on an RBI-double by Jaylen Guy. Guy scored on an RBI-single from Dunham to make it 11-7. Lakeshore was unable to overcome the deficit in the ninth.

Joe Roundtree took the loss for Lakeshore. Myers went 3-5 with 3 RBIs on the night and Thompson had two RBIs as well. This loss brings Lakeshore to 30-33 on the season as a whole and 14-13 on the second half. They currently trail the first-place Rafters by 4 games and are tied with the Booyah and Dock Spiders. They face the Rafters again tomorrow night with first pitch at 7:05 pm.

The Lakeshore Chinooks are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. The Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 22 teams, drawing significantly more fans, in a friendly ballpark experience, than any league of its kind. A valuable training ground for coaches, umpires and front office staff, over 200 former Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist (CHC) and Brandon Crawford (SFG) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (BOS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET) and Curtis Granderson (TOR).  All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League portal. For more information, visit  www.lakeshorechinooks.com or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play and set the Chinooks as your favorite team.