By Deann Davidson

Mequon, WI – The Lakeshore Chinooks took on the Wisconsin Woodchucks in the second game of the series and suffered a heavy 16-2 loss, resulting in being swept.

The Woodchucks scored quickly, tallying one in the first inning. Lawrence Cicileo scored after Kenny Rodriguez hit a single that slipped past a diving Ross Messina and left fielder Jake Olsen makes an error on the play. In the bottom of the first with two outs, it seemed like the Chinooks had a chance to tie the game after a blooper to left field for Austin Murr who advanced to third on a line drive over the second baseman’s head. However, the Chinooks were unable to score with the inning ended without a groundout to second.

In the top of the second, Murr made a majestic diving catch in right field to get the first out and Chinooks’ pitcher struck out two, giving him five strikeouts through two innings.

Wisconsin’s offense picked up speed in the top of the third. Payton Nelson led off with a grounder just beyond the glove of diving Jake Thompson and then stole second on a wild pitch from Edwards. The Woodchucks scored on a grounder from Stinson and the Chinooks were unable to make the play at second and then Nelson took home after the throw to Savier Pinales at the plate was not in time. Following that, Rodriguez went 2-2 with a RBI single, scoring Cicileo. With Kaeber Rog batting, Rodriguez stole second and the throw from Pinales was not in time and Stinson took advantage, coming home and making the score 4-0. With no outs, a wild pitch from Edwards allowed Rodriguez to cross the plate and extend Wisconsin’s lead. The Chinooks were able to get out of the inning after two flyouts and a strikeout, but trailed 5-0. Lakeshore tried to answer in the bottom of the inning, putting Murr in scoring position after a single and a walk, but a pop out to third left two runners stranded for the Chinooks.

In the fourth, the Woodchucks tacked on another run and the Chinooks went down in order, struggling offensively against Wisconsin. The Woodchucks continued to score, adding two more in the fifth. The Chinooks fared no better than they had throughout the game, despite creating traffic on the bases after a comebacker allowed Thompson to get on, followed by a line drive and bunt to load the bases for Messina. Messina grounded into a double-play, ending the inning and the Chinooks’ best chance at scoring.

A 2-RBI double from Rodriguez gave the Woodchucks a 10-run lead over Lakeshore in the sixth. In the bottom of the inning, a leadoff home run from Olson gave the Chinooks their first run in 15 innings of play against Wisconsin.

With Bailey Vuylsteke pitching for the Chinooks in the seventh, the Woodchucks continued their offensive rampage. Bradley Comer scored on a Kyle Simmons infield single, advancing Alejandro Gonzalez to third, who then scored on a wild pitch, making it a 12-1 game. Simmons scored on a grounder through the infield single, adding another run for Wisconsin. The Chinooks had a chance to score in the bottom of the inning after Malec hit a single and advanced to second on an error thanks to aggressive baserunning. Thompson advanced Malec to third with a grounder, but Malec was left stranded as the inning ended two batters later.

In the eighth and ninth innings, the Woodchucks scored three more runs, the Chinooks now trailing 16-1 going into the bottom of the ninth. Nathan Torres walked and Malec followed with a base hit, but Torres was out at second. Back-to-back singles scored Malec, but the game ended with a final score of 16-2.

The Chinooks fall to 1-3 on the season. They travel to Fond du lac to face the Dock Spiders at 6:35 p.m. tomorrow night, hoping to end a three-game skid.

The Lakeshore Chinooks are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. The Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 22 teams, drawing significantly more fans, in a friendly ballpark experience, than any league of its kind. A valuable training ground for coaches, umpires and front office staff, over 200 former Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist (CHC) and Brandon Crawford (SFG) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (BOS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET) and Curtis Granderson (TOR).  All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League portal. For more information, visit  www.lakeshorechinooks.com or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play and set the Chinooks as your favorite team.