KENOSHA, Wis (WYATT BAUMEYER). \u2014 For the first time as a Lakeshore Chinook, left-handed pitcher Bobby Perebzak entered Thursday\u2019s game in relief in perhaps the biggest situation any pitcher could face.<\/p>\n
After tossing three scoreless innings, Perebzak took the mound in the tenth, aiming to strand the \u201cghost\u201d runner on second to win the game. After a leadoff walk to Kingfish leadoff man and third baseman Dayton Murphy, Perebzak faced no-out runners on first and second jam with the middle of the order looming.<\/p>\n
However, the lefty delivered, striking out his final two batters in dramatic fashion on some nasty breaking balls to win the game 4-3 in extra innings.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis confidence on the mound was awesome,\u201d Chinooks\u2019 catcher Jack Kleveno said.<\/p>\n
In relief, Perebzak fanned six Kingfish \u2013 matching his season high \u2013 over four innings. The key stat for the southpaw: he only issued two walks, and just a single hit, something manager Mikel Moreno said is pivotal to success.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we get consistent pitching, we will be in games,\u201d Moreno said.<\/p>\n
For the second consecutive game, the Lakeshore pitching staff was phenomenal at limiting traffic on the bases.<\/p>\n
The trio of starter Dylan Escobar, right-hander Logan Schulfer and Perebzak allowed just five walks and eight hits over ten innings.<\/p>\n
Adding Wednesday’s walk-off victory, the Chinook pitching staff has walked just five batters and surrendered 11 hits in 20 innings. Compare the minimal traffic to the 16 strikeouts and no errors, and it\u2019s no wonder the Chinooks are undefeated in the two games.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe pitchers on the mound set the tone,\u201d Moreno said after Wednesday’s victory. \u201cIt all starts with pitching.\u201d<\/p>\n
Apart from the superb pitching, the Chinook offense has come through in the clutch.<\/p>\n
A day ago, it was Esteban Garcia who delivered the extra-inning victory. Thursday night, it was Kleveno.<\/p>\n
After \u201cghost\u201d runner Ian Choi stole third base to begin the tenth, Kleveno drove a ball into deep center field, scoring the eventual winning run in a display of great situational hitting.<\/p>\n
Kleveno said once Choi stole third, his goal was to elevate the baseball.<\/p>\n
\u201cI stuck to my plan and did just that,\u201d Kleveno said.<\/p>\n
The Chinooks’ tenth-inning run marked the first time the team scored since the fifth inning \u2013 a Brody Rasmussen sacrifice fly.<\/p>\n
Lakeshore led 3-0 early over the Kingfish, highlighted by a long Drew Reynolds home run to right field in the first. However, Kenosha answered with three runs of their own in the fifth off Escobar.<\/p>\n
Fortunately, the bullpen kept the Chinooks in the game and positioned them to win the game in extra innings.<\/p>\n
Over the Chinooks\u2019 winning streak, the offense has only managed to score six runs in 20 innings \u2014 a significant reason: the injury bug.<\/p>\n
In particular, Shortstop David Hogg and outfielder Jacob Kowes have dealt with lingering injuries. Hogg collided with a runner on Tuesday, June 4, against Battle Creek, and Kowes re-aggravated a lower-half injury Thursday night running to first base.<\/p>\n
Hogg\u2019s expected timeline to return sits as day-to-day, whereas Kowes\u2019s new injury potentially puts a key offensive piece on a longer timeline to return.<\/p>\n
Kowes said pregame he wanted to ease his lower half back into the swing of things, not wanting to sacrifice future time to quicken his return. Unfortunately, that wasn\u2019t the case.<\/p>\n
Lakeshore goes for its first series sweep tomorrow against Kenosha. First pitch is scheduled once again for 6:35 p.m. Left-hander Aaron Robinson is set to make his first start for the Chinooks.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
KENOSHA, Wis (WYATT BAUMEYER). \u2014 For the first time as a Lakeshore Chinook, left-handed pitcher Bobby Perebzak entered Thursday\u2019s game […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":18045,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18044","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-team-news"],"yoast_head":"\n