\n\t \n<\/p>\n
\n\tWausau, WI-The Lakeshore Chinooks defeated the Wisconsin Woodchucks 11-7 to improve to 14-15 on the season. The win also completed a two-game sweep of the Woodchucks that saw the Chinooks outscore Wisconsin 28-16 and outhit them 33-18. \n<\/p>\n
\n\tAfter yesterday’s crazy, nine-run comeback rollercoaster, it would’ve been nice for the Chinooks to have a one-sided baseball game. But with this team, especially lately, crazy seems to be the new normal. \n<\/p>\n
\n\tOver the past four games, Lakeshore has scored 19 runs in the eighth and ninth innings combined and has come back from deficits of 9, 3, and 2 runs.\n<\/p>\n
\n\tThis game was no exception. The Chinooks scored five in the eighth and one in the ninth to recover from a two-run deficit. \n<\/p>\n
\n\tTonight’s game started relatively benign. In the first inning, Chinooks starter, Zach Spears, got into some trouble after a one-out single paired with a stolen base, wild pitch, and subsequent RBI single to make it 1-0 Woodchucks, but he settled down after that by tossing four straight shutout innings. \n<\/p>\n
\n\tOn the other side of the ball, the Chinooks offense got underway in the third inning when a Matthew Mika leadoff single and walks by Joe Duncan and Rylan Thomas set the table for Nick Gatewood. And, Gatewood didn't leave any leftovers. \n<\/p>\n
\n\tThe lefty slugger has been feasting as of late. Over his last four games, he’s registered 9 RBI, and on the season, he has a team-high 23. Overall, that puts him 8 off the league high RBI mark of 31 held by Derek Bangert, but Bangert has played in seven more games. \n<\/p>\n
\n\tThe Chinooks tallied two more in the fifth when back to back singles by Gatewood and Jacob Richardson, and a walk by Daniel DeSimone loaded the bases from TJ Raguse. Raguse came through by smoking a single past the shortstop that allowed Gatewood to score. Then, Jack Dunn produced a RBI fielder’s choice to score Richardson and make it 5-1 Chinooks after five innings. \n<\/p>\n
\n\tThe lead seemed pretty comfortable, but then the Chinook defense exploded. \n<\/p>\n
\n\tIn the bottom of the sixth, Woodchuck clean-up hitter, Byrile Ware, led off with a homer launched deep over the left field fence. Then, three singles, a walk and two more earned runs surrendered by Zach Spears removed him from the game. \n<\/p>\n
\n\tSpears’ final line was 5.1 innings, 7 hits, 4 runs, 3 walks and 4 strikeouts. \n<\/p>\n
\n\tHeading into the seventh, the Chinooks still held a 5-4 lead, but Nick Campe struggled and allowed the Woodchucks to score three more. So, it was 7-5 Woodchucks heading into the eighth. \n<\/p>\n
\n\tThat’s when the late-inning magic arrived. Joe Duncan smoked a two-run homer— his first of the summer— to tie things up, and last night’s hero, Daniel DeSimone came through with a two-RBI single of his own. Finally, Raguse brought home DeSimone to make it 10-7 after eight innings. \n<\/p>\n
\n\tThe Chinooks tacked on one more error-aided run in the ninth before Parker Sanburn closed the door the 11-7 win and completed a two-game sweep of the Woodchucks. \n<\/p>\n