Lakeshore Scores Seventeen Unanswered in Massive Comeback
Tim Hackett, Broadcasting Intern
Wausau, Wis.- Last week against Kalamazoo, the Wisconsin Woodchucks nearly came back from a nine-run deficit. Tonight, it happened to them. The Woodchucks (10-18) went up by nine after two innings of play, but the Lakeshore Chinooks (13-15) rallied for 17 unanswered runs in an epic 17-9 comeback win at Athletic Park.
The Woodchucks allowed no runs on six hits Monday night against Madison, but things couldn’t have been much more different Tuesday as Lakeshore put up 17 runs on 19 hits. But before any of their runs scored, Wisconsin brought home nine of their own in the second. Ivan Nunez kickstarted the nine-spot when he reached on an error, and the Woodchucks had their best offensive inning of the year, highlighted by a two-run single from Brylie Ware and a grand slam, the first of the year for Wisconsin, by Dalton Reed.
Reed’s run made it 9-0. No Woodchuck would come close to crossing home plate after that. In fact, no baserunner got past first base after the second inning. Instead, the Chinooks started chipping away, beginning with a solo homer in the third. Four more came across in the fourth, led by a quartet of doubles and a two-run home run by Jacob Richardson.
That made it 9-5 Wisconsin. Chucks starter Korey Rasure looked to be settling in with a scoreless fifth, but he walked the first two batters of the sixth to end his outing. Armando Gonzalez came in and surrendered a five-run frame, led by a pair of RBI-singles from Drake Lubin and Nick Gatewood. Just like that, Lakeshore had a one-run lead.
It didn’t end there. The first two men reached against Tyler Luneke in the seventh and Rylan Thomas drove them both home with a double to make it 12-9. The Chinooks put the contest out of reach entirely with five more runs in the ninth off of Andreas Papageorge. Gatewood drove in two more on a double and Caleb Dean drove in two more on a single to finally cap off the scoring at 17-9.
Remarkably, none of the nine runs surrendered by Lakeshore were earned. 16 of Wisconsin’s 17 allowed were. Both Matthew Mika and Daniel DeSimone had four-hit days to help spark a comeback for the ages, while DeSimone and Lubin both scored four times and Gatewood and Thomas both drove in three.
The Woodchucks will hope to rebound Wednesday night as they wrap up this three-game homestand with the second game of the week against Lakeshore. Austin Lambright will pitch against Lakeshore’s Zach Spears in a match starting at 6:35 PM, weather permitting.
Tickets are on sale to all Wisconsin Woodchucks home games and the 2017 Northwoods League Home Run Derby and All-Star Game, presented by Ascension. Tickets can be purchased online, by calling 715.845.5055 or by stopping by the Woodchucks front office during normal business hours.
