Eli Benes

GREEN BAY, Wi.- Two wins away from tying the the longest win streak in club history of nine games, the Chinooks opened a three-game series versus the Green Bay Rockers on Thursday, July 2 at Capital Credit Union Park in Green Bay, Wi. The Chinooks entered Thursday 1-2 against Green Bay on the year.

For the third game in a row, the Chinooks were the first to score. With runners on second and third base, a sacrifice fly from Bryan Lorenz gave the Chinooks an early 1-0 lead. In the bottom half of the inning, Green Bay responded with a bang, driving in five runs on four hits.

Facing nine batters in his first inning of work, Chinook starting pitcher Eli Niemiec did not return to the mound in the following inning. Trailing early by a sizeable margin, the Chinooks battled back by scoring three combined runs in the second and third inning.

Sam Myers was responsible for the lone run in the top of the second inning, by hitting a solo home run to right field. In the next inning, Lorenz came through yet again with a RBI single. Following a single from David Mysza putting runners on the corners, Aukai Kea drove in Lorenz on a RBI groundout.

The Chinooks were held scoreless up until the top of the sixth inning, where they tied the game by scoring a pair of runs. With a runner on second base with one out, Casey Robinson launched his first home run of the season to left field.

Fighting back to tie the game — the Chinooks efforts were diminished — as the Rockers scored eight unanswered runs in the sixth and seventh inning. Down 14-6 with just six outs left on offense, the Chinooks loaded the bases with one out in the top of the eighth inning.

Without putting the ball in play, the Chinooks scored back-to-back runs thanks to being hit by a pitch. Leading the club in RBIs, Lorenz added on to his tally and the rally with a RBI double.

The Chinooks scored two more runs in the inning off a Mysza RBI single and Aukai Kea sacrifice fly. Still trailing 14-12 heading into the top of the ninth inning, the Chinooks strung four hits together to score three runs and take the lead 15-14.

With Cael Turner on the mound, the right-hander retired the side in order to secure the improbable win. After scoring four runs in the first five innings, the Chinooks produced 11 runs the rest of the way. Once trailing by eight runs, Thursday’s win is the largest come from behind win on the season for the club.