MADISON, Wis (WYATT BAUMEYER) \u2014 For the third time in as many days, the Lakeshore Chinooks rallied with their backs to the wall to snatch victory from the hands of defeat.<\/p>\n
Trailing 5-1 entering the eighth to the Madison Mallards, the Chinooks appeared to be running out of time. Instead, Lakeshore put up nine unanswered runs to steal game 1 of the weekend series in Madison, 10-6.<\/p>\n
For manager Mikel Moreno, Saturday\u2019s come-from-behind victory wasn\u2019t surprising, as the team had hit the ball hard all night.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe weren\u2019t getting the results we wanted, but our boys kept grinding to have good at-bats,\u201d Moreno said.<\/p>\n
In the eighth inning, the Chinooks sent 11 to the plate \u2013 including seven hits and three walks \u2013 as the line kept moving forward down four runs.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had a couple hits here and a couple hits there,\u201d Moreno said of his offense spreading the ball all over the diamond.<\/p>\n
The breakthrough hit came down 5-4 with one out and runners on second and third. Right fielder Nate Gray chopped a 2-0 fastball over Mallard third baseman Mikey Bell\u2019s head and into left field, giving the Chinooks their first lead of the game.<\/p>\n
Gray said he wanted to barrel up the baseball, but it just worked out.<\/p>\n
\u201cHitting is contagious,” Gray said.<\/p>\n
Moreno said Gray is one of his most reliable hitters who delivers quality at-bats after quality at-bats.<\/p>\n
After Gray\u2019s clutch go-ahead single, first baseman Esteban Garcia \u2013 who had been in a significant slump before Saturday\u2019s game \u2013 added two more insurance runs, extending the lead to three.<\/p>\n
However, a two-run home run by center fielder Jesse Aguirre put the game away in the ninth in what Mkreno said was his favorite part of Saturday\u2019s victory.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt [Jesse\u2019s home run] just makes it more difficult for them to come back,\u201d Moreno said.<\/p>\n
On the pitching side, right-hander Jackson Bahn entered the bottom of the eighth inning tasked with preserving an 8-5 lead.<\/p>\n
Bahn, who missed significant time with an injury, showed some of the best \u201cstuff\u201d any Lakeshore pitcher had shown all season, striking out three while topping out at 95 miles per hour.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s gaining his confidence, and he\u2019s throwing strikes,\u201d Moreno said.<\/p>\n
Though Bahn shined, left-hander Bobby Perebzak entered with two outs in the eighth, inheriting runners on first and second.<\/p>\n
Perebzak followed up on Bahn\u2019s performance by striking out two of his final four batters and collecting the save.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had a blast,\u201d Perebzak said. \u201cI had no worries in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
Perebzak said he wasn\u2019t supposed to pitch unless the team had a late, and that is how things worked out.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was very calm,\u201d Perebzak said.<\/p>\n
As a whole, the Chinooks\u2019 bullpen held one of the Northwoods League\u2019s top offenses scoreless over five innings.<\/p>\n
The five runs the Chinnoks allowed came from starter Chance Covert.<\/p>\n
Despite Covert\u2019s final line looking subpar \u2013 4IP, 3H 5R 4BB 3K \u2013 he pitched into the fifth, having allowed just two runs.<\/p>\n
However, the left-hander failed to record an out while loading the bases in the fifth.<\/p>\n
Left-hander Aaron Robinson relieved Covert but allowed three inherited runs to score.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought I went out there and competed well,\u201d Covert said. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t my best performance, but a win is a win.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lakeshore goes for the series sweep over the Mallards on Sunday at 4:05 p.m. Right-hander Jack Hagen is expected to start.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
MADISON, Wis (WYATT BAUMEYER) \u2014 For the third time in as many days, the Lakeshore Chinooks rallied with their backs […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":18092,"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-18091","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-team-news"],"yoast_head":"\n