Chinook Pitching Stifles Woodchucks

The Chinooks (7-7) entered the game having pitched back-to-back shutouts over the weekend. On Monday, they held the Woodchucks (9-5) to just one run on five hits.

Lakeshore opened the scoring with a two-run single in the bottom of the fifth. That was all of the damage they were able to muster against starter Bobby Vath.

The Arizona Western righty threw six innings, yielding just two runs and no walks. He tallied six strikeouts for a second consecutive start but was saddled with a loss dropping him to 0-1 on the season.

The Woodchucks cut the deficit in half on Noah Fitzgerald’s RBI double in the top of the eighth, plating Brandon Trammell with two outs. Antonio Valdez drew a walk in his pinch-hit debut to keep the rally alive, but the Chinooks escaped the jam.

That would be as close as the Woodchucks could get. The Chinooks added three runs in the bottom of the eighth off of relievers Richie Rivera and Adam Muirhead, earning them their first home win of the 2021 season.

Top Performers

Vath lasted six innings for his second consecutive start. He also pitched two scoreless frames in the suspended game against Green Bay. He has 12 strikeouts and no walks so far this season.

Fitzgerald drove in a run for a third straight game. He went 2-for-4 at the plate for a second consecutive multi-hit performance.

Trammell drew a pair of walks and scored a run, extending his on-base streak to 11 games. His 10-game hitting streak ended tonight.

Clayton Mehlbauer went 1-for-4 with a single. He has reached base in all 12 of his appearances this season.

Jace Baumann recorded an out and allowed a hit during his third relief appearance of the season.

Next Up

The Woodchucks will conclude their two-game series against the Chinooks tomorrow in Mequon. They’ll be off on Wednesday before returning home to face the Madison Mallards on Thursday in the first of a four-game homestand. That game will begin at 6:35 p.m. at Athletic Park.

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The Wisconsin Woodchucks are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. The 27-year old summer collegiate league is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 22 teams, drawing significantly more fans, in a friendly ballpark experience, than any league of its kind. A valuable training ground for coaches, umpires and front office staff, over 200 former Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist (CHC) and Brandon Crawford (SFG) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (BOS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET) and Curtis Granderson (TOR). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League portal. For more information, visit www.woodchucks.com or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play and set the Woodchucks as your favorite team.