Written by Matt Ellis
The Lakeshore Chinooks (7-11) visited the (10-8) Wisconsin Rapid Rafters and lost the game by a score of 7-3. This was game one in a two game series against the Rafters and game two of a five game road trip.
The Rafters wasted no time in this game scoring an early two runs in the bottom of the first. Nick Yeager got the start for the Chinooks tonight and went for five innings pitched, four earned runs, and allowed five walks compared to his four strikeouts. TY Johnson started the inning off reaching second base off of a Chinooks error. Yeager worked to get the next two batters out; One with a ground out and the other via strikeout. Now, with two outs, Rafters first basemen Jack Gurevitch homered to left field, scoring himself and Johnson to make it a 2-0 Rafters lead.
It would take the Chinooks two innings to respond but they did with two runs of their own. In the top of the third, Jared Everson hit a ball hard to left field, good enough for a double. Adam Cootway was next up and hit a single but did not advance Everson. Grant Ross would keep the hitting going with a single to center field that would load the bases with one out. After a Drew Townsend strikeout, Avery Owusu-Asiedu sent two runners home with a two RBI double to even the game up at two runs a piece.
The Chinooks would tack on another run in the top of the fourth after Brady Counsell homered to left field to make it 3-2 giving Lakeshore the lead.
In the bottom of the fifth, the Rafters struck again. This time scoring two runs and taking a 4-3 lead. Chris Coniff and Hogan Helligso are both walked by Yeager to put runners on first and second with no outs. Johnson hit a ball that advanced Coniff all the way from second to home and Helligso to third that tied the game at 3-3 with one out. Brendan Bobo grounded out into a double play that ended the inning but not before Helligso could score from third.
In the bottom of the sixth, now with DJ Hess on the mound, the Rafters tacked on another run adding on to their lead to make it 5-3. That run was scored by Gurevitch as he smacked his second home run of the night. Chinooks manager Trevor Cho Pulled Hess off the mound after one inning. In his lone inning of work, Hess allowed one run, three hits, and had a strikeout. In the top of the seventh, the Chinooks put pressure on the Rafters with a runner on second and first, but the Rafters got out of the inning with no damage done.
Jack Gurevitch was not done quite yet as he would take a ball deep in the bottom of the seventh for his third home run of the night and his fourth of the year. This was Gurevitch’s second two-run shot of the night and his fifth RBI of the ballgame. The Chinooks trailed 7-3 entering the eighth inning.
That would do it for tonight’s game as the Chinooks road troubles continue. The Chinooks look to bounce back against the Rafters with a game on Sunday at 4:05 pm CST.
