Battle Creek, MI – After finishing the first half of the season on a high note, Lakeshore let the good times roll with another win to start the second half of the season. The Chinooks (1-0) were dominant on the mound today, shutting out the Battle Jacks (0-1) on the road. With a league-wide record reset, Lakeshore got timely hits as they took game one of the two game series on Wednesday night.

Eric Chalus (W, 3-0) was phenomenal pitching tonight. The Kent State product pitched six innings giving up just four hits and striking out seven Battle Jack hitters tonight. With Lakeshore hanging onto a one-run lead for most of the game, Chalus kept hitters in check by attacking the zone and mixing in off-speed pitches to keep Battle Creek off balance.

The Chinooks are second in strikeouts this summer in the Northwoods League, and Eric Chalus has been a big part of that. Chalus has now recorded 37 strikeouts in 32 innings of work. Here is a look at his stats on the year:

G 6 / 3-0 / IP 32.0 / H 20 / ER 8 / BB 7 / SO 37 / ERA 2.25

Lakeshore got on the board first with a one-run fourth inning. Garrett Martin hit a leadoff double to put him on second with no outs. Caleb Bartolero helped Martin advance to third on a tag with a fly ball to right field. With Martin on third, Aiden Longwell hit a sacrifice fly to right-center to put the Chinooks ahead, 1-0.

The game would remain a pitching duel for the next few innings. Calvin Bickerstaff (HLD, 1) pitched two innings of relief, allowing only two hits and striking out two as well. The top of the ninth would see Lakeshore add an insurance run to give them more breathing room. Stephen Hrustich hit a single with two outs to put him on first and bring up John Bay at the plate. Bay hit an RBI triple to score Hrustich, but was arguably robbed of a home run as the hit appeared to bounce off the wall in center field. The umpires ruled the hit a triple, but the replay showed what should’ve been a home run. Regardless, Lakeshore entered the bottom of the ninth with a two run lead.

Mitch Mueller (SV, 1) came in to close out the game. While he ran into some early trouble having two men on and no outs, Mueller responded with three straight outs to secure the win. Mueller finished the night pitching one inning with two hits and two strikeouts.

The Chinooks are now 1-0 to start the new portion of the season. Lakeshore will look to continue their win streak in a rematch tomorrow in game two of the series. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35pm in Battle Creek, Michigan.