Eli Benes<\/p>\n
MEQUON, Wi.- With their magic number at two, the Lakeshore Chinooks entered Thursday, August 6 with a chance to clinch their first NWL playoff berth since 2017 with a win over Madison and a Wausau loss.<\/p>\n
Leading Madison 5-1 through the first three innings, Madison eventually played spoiler, winning 7-6 in extra innings and delaying a Lakeshore playoff berth. With the loss and a Wausau win over Kenosha, the Chinooks lead the Great Lakes west by half a game with two games left to play in the regular season.<\/p>\n
Like Wednesday’s contest, Madison struck first Thursday night, with Jonah Weathers driving in Preston Yaucher on a RBI double off starting pitcher Drew Abbott.<\/p>\n
Trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the second inning, the Chinooks gave themselves a scoring opportunity by loading the bases with one out for Casey Robinson. First-pitch swinging, Robinson came through for the Chinooks with a two-run single to left field.<\/p>\n
Leading 2-1, the Chinooks yet again put pressure on the basepaths in the bottom of the third with Jack Counsell and Sam Myers reaching on singles. With two runners on base, Nick Allred sent a towering fly ball into left field that went over the fence for a three-run home run, his fourth of the year.<\/p>\n
With the three RBIs in the contest, Allred leads the Chinooks in RBIs with 46 and is tied for third in home runs with four. In addition to his offensive contributions, Allred has stepped in to play first base as of late due to first basemen Sam Meidenbauer suffering an injury.<\/p>\n
“He\u2019s super mature. He\u2019s an older guy [and] understands what\u2019s asked of him and how to go about your business on a daily basis,” Field Manager Brian Gregory said.<\/span><\/p>\n Leading by four runs after three innings thanks to Allred’s long shot, the Mallards quickly responded by scoring two runs in the following inning. Forcing Abbott out of the game after four innings of work, the right hander finished his day allowing three earned runs six hits, while striking zero batters.<\/p>\n Trailing by two runs, the Mallards made it three unanswered runs when they cut the Chinooks lead down to one in the sixth on a Brock Lulewicz RBI single. Needing a response to help extend their lead, Joshua Chairez brought in the Chinooks sixth and final run of the game in the sixth inning on a RBI single.<\/p>\n Slowly, the Mallards chipped away at the Chinooks’ lead by scoring a run in the eighth. With two outs, Brayden Zllis cut the Chinooks lead down to one on a RBI single and infield error. With their back against the wall, the Mallards put a runner on second base with one out in the ninth.<\/p>\n Facing Ben Groeschl straight out of the bullpen, Jack Bello Jr tied the game at six with a RBI single. Looking to make it seven walk-off wins on the season, the Chinooks were retired in order to send the game into extra innings.<\/p>\n It was in extra innings in the tenth inning, when Lulewicz secured the game-winning run on a 6-3 double play. Holding the Mallards to a run in the tenth, the Chinooks gave themselves an opportunity to tie or win the game when they put runners on the corners with one out.<\/p>\n A caught stealing stopped the momentum for the Chinooks as a Toufic Khabie strikeout ended the game. Scoring six runs through the first six innings, the Chinooks were held scoreless on three hits by relievers Eamonn Mulhern and Brayden Kottschade.<\/p>\n \u201cI think [Madison] did a good job of throwing different arms there at the end,” Gregory said. “They didn\u2019t stick with one guy and they got two innings here, two innings there.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Despite the loss, the Chinooks still control their destiny as they can win their last two games to clinch a playoff spot or advance with a win and Wausau loss in their last two games.<\/p>\n For the last time this season, the Chinooks play at Moonlight Graham Field on Friday, August 7, facing the Rockford Rivets at 6:35 pm CDT.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s business as usual. We have a game tomorrow, it\u2019s our last home game and we\u2019re going to go play a good baseball game,” Gregory said. “That\u2019s all we can ask.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Eli Benes MEQUON, Wi.- With their magic number at two, the Lakeshore Chinooks entered Thursday, August 6 with a chance […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":19408,"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-19407","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-team-news"],"yoast_head":"\n