In the first game of this homestand, the Lakeshore Chinooks (9-15) were looking to snap a seven-game losing streak. They managed to do that Saturday night, defeating the Wausau Woodchucks (9-12) 9-8 at Moonlight Graham Field.
“It’s a really tough thing to do,” Lakeshore field manager Trevor Cho said. “Everyone treated like it was a 0-0 baseball game. (We) always created pressure offensively. (I’m) just proud of the group effort in that one.”
Wausau got on the board first in the top of the first. To begin the inning, Lakeshore starter Larry Gallo hit a batter and walked the next two batters to load the bases. He hit another batter to give the Woodchucks an early lead.
Drew Berkland’s RBI single and Christian Michelle’s sacrifice fly brought in two more runs and put Wausau in front by three runs.
With the bases still loaded, Lakeshore reliever Grant Ross entered the game and walked the first batter he saw, putting the Woodchucks ahead 4-0 heading into the bottom of the inning.
Lakeshore pushed one run across in the bottom of the third inning. After two quick outs, Gabe Roessler reached first base on an infield single. Drew Townsend drew his 44th walk of the season, which put runners on first and second.
Roessler then stole third base and crossed home plate after an error, giving the Chinooks their first run of the night.
In the top of the fourth, the Woodchucks responded with a run of their own. Dwight Allen drew a leadoff walk, stole second base and reached third base on an error by Lakeshore catcher Will Johannes.
Michael Maginnis brought Allen home with a sacrifice fly to deep center field, giving Wausau a 5-1 lead heading into the bottom of the fourth.
The Chinooks battled all the way back for the lead in the next frame. Matt Deprey led off the inning with a double off the center field wall and advanced to third base on a wild pitch. Joey Spence then hit an infield single that brought Deprey home and gave Lakeshore its second run.
Johannes kept the line moving with a single to right field, putting runners on first and third with no outs. Johannes and Spence then completed a double steal as the Chinooks now trailed by only two runs.
Johannes moved over to third base on a throwing error and ended up scoring when Sam Vomhof reached second base on a fielding error. After two quick out, Roessler doubled down the left field line to tie the game up 5-5.
Roessler stole third base and raced home yet again on an error to cap off the five-run frame and put Lakeshore ahead 6-5.
Wausau tied the game up once more in the top of the fifth. Colin Brueggemann doubled to right field to lead off the inning and reached third base after a sacrifice fly. Mitchell then singled to center field to bring home the tying run.
It wasn’t long before the Woodchucks retook the lead. In the top of the sixth, Allen led off the inning with a double to left field. He advanced to third on a sacrifice fly and scored after Brueggmann singled to center field, giving Wausau a 7-6 lead.
With two outs and runners on first and third, Jake Baker then singled to right field to put his team ahead by two runs heading into the bottom of the sixth.
Lakeshore battled back and retook the lead in the bottom of the eighth. Townsend drew a leadoff walk and advanced to third on a throwing error. Jacob Nelson then drew a walk and Matt Deprey hit a sacrifice fly to put the Chinooks down by one run.
Spence hit an infield single, putting runners on first and third with one out. Spence and Nelson would both score on the Woodchucks’ eighth error of the night, putting the Chinooks ahead 9-8.
Lakeshore then shut down Wausau in the top of the ninth, snapping its seven-game losing streak.
In his first game since July 25th, Roessler led the way for Lakeshore tonight, going 3-for-4 with two runs scored and one RBI.
“(He’s) a sparkplug player,” Cho said. “Above anything else, he’s just a good teammate. We were able to create pressure offensively almost every inning. A big credit of that goes to just to not even the player, but also the teammate that Gabe is.”
The Chinooks will go for the sweep tomorrow night as they face the Wausau Woodchucks again. First pitch is set for 1:05 p.m. CST.
“I told the guys to stick with this, make it to the finish line,” Cho said. “Everybody’s going to become a better person and better player. If you just look at it as an opportunity to become a better player, that’s the attitude that you have to go about it.”
