Mequon, WI — The Lakeshore Chinooks (5-3) fell behind early versus the Wausau Woodchucks (9-2), as they were in danger of dropping their third straight at Moonlight Graham Field to open 2024. Down 2-0, timely two-out hitting for Lakeshore gave it the chance to tie the tilt and take the lead the next inning. The Chinooks defeated the division-leading Woodchucks 3-2 in a well-pitched battle, securing their first home victory.

The game didn’t start off on the right foot for ‘Nooks pitcher Luke Hansel. He walked the first batter, threw a wild pitch, and the next batter singled to center to open the scoring. With one out and a runner on, Hansel induced a room-service double play ball for Chinooks SS Jack Counsell to end the inning.

But Lakeshore struggled to string together baserunners in the first two innings. Catcher Vidal Colon made sweet contact on his single through the left side of the infield, but it would be the only hit of the first two frames.

In the top of the third, a weakly-hit ground ball error allowed a threat to reach the bases for Wausau, and matters were made worse after a balk was issued. Yet in his growingly typical domination of at-bats, Hansel overpowered the Woodchucks to force a three-pitch strikeout and finish the third.

Teammates loved Hansel’s effort under the Friday night lights.

“He was outstanding. He was exciting. It was electric,” said Chinooks 3B Ty Wisdom.

Prince Deboskie, the Chinooks CF who described his “best baseball skill” as his speed, saw an opportunity to get into scoring position in the bottom of the third. He took off for second base, but the Wausau catcher made an athletic throw while falling to his side to gun down Deboskie, who despite being caught is now 11/13 (84.6%) on steal attempts.

Still down 1-0 in the fourth, Lakeshore came to bat and got two men on base with two outs, an opportunity for Counsell to drive in the first ‘Nooks run of the night. Another athletic play by the Woodchucks took away that chance, as the runner on second was picked off.

After both lineups were set down in order in the fifth, Wausau got the game’s first extra-base hit to lead off the sixth. Hansel was still going strong on the mound as he neared 100 pitches, and he struck out the next two batters to set up a battle with Brayden Smith.

Hansel spiked his second pitch to move the runner to third base. Then, he forced a Smith swing but also forced Colon to misplay the ball, giving the runner a chance to scamper home and putting the Chinooks down 2-0. Hansel struck out Smith on the next pitch.

After throwing five innings of two-run ball, Hansel one-upped himself by completing six innings with just six baserunners and two earned runs allowed.

“It’s just me trying to go out there and compete my butt off every time I’m pitching,” Hansel said.

In the bottom of the sixth, the Chinooks made sure his quality start wouldn’t go to waste. Wisdom led off the inning and singled to reach base for the third time in three trips to the plate, and later in the inning with two out and runners on the corners, AJ Garcia (Iowa) came to plate. He beat a ball into the ground, and after it took a few bounces on its way to second base, he was able to leg out an RBI single to cut the deficit in half.

Then, an unearned run came around to score on a throwing error from the Wausau catcher, knotting the game at two.

Chinooks relief pitcher Ryan Karst came out in the seventh and retired the side, maintaining momentum for the Chinooks.

Counsell led off the bottom of the inning with a single to left center on the first pitch. The next pitch, he stole second base. Designated Hitter Josh Outlaw and Deboskie then walked, loading the bases with no outs. A strikeout brought the Woodchucks closer to extinguishing the juiced bases. Then, with one out, OF Connor Hennings hit a tricky fly ball in front of the right fielder and it fell, allowing the runner on third to race home and give the Chinooks their first lead of the evening.

Up 3-2 in the top of the eighth, Karst allowed a runner to get into scoring position. With two outs, Chinooks second baseman Landon Underhill made a potentially game-saving play on a grounder. He avoided a broken bat sent barreling toward him and adeptly made an underhand toss to first to end the threat.

The top of the ninth was smooth sailing for third-year Chinooks pitcher Mitch Mueller. He needed just eight pitches to bring the Woodchucks to their final strike, and they couldn’t climb out of the hole the ‘Nooks dug for them. He blazed a fastball by the hitter to end the game and give the Chinooks home win No. 1.

“It’s huge for this team and the community, it was a big crowd tonight and we wanted to get this win,” Wisdom said. “This team we played is really good, one of the better teams in the league, and I think it’s just a statement.”

“The Chinooks are coming.”

Article written by David Jacobs. Photo by Chloe Bauers.