Chinooks Close 1st Half on 3-Game Win Streak

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Northwoods Lakeshore Chinooks

Chinooks Close 1st Half on 3-Game Win Streak

July 1, 2025 - Northwoods League (Northwoods)
Lakeshore Chinooks News Release


MEQUON, Wis.- The Chinooks started the 2025 Northwoods League season on a six-game losing streak.

Just over a month later, they conclude the first half on a three-game winning streak after completing a series sweep over the Kalamazoo Growlers with a 3-1 win on Monday night.

Lakeshore is finding their stride at the right time. For manager Mikel Moreno, tonight- as always- was about the pitching. At last, he's seeing consistent strike-throwing from his pitchers.

"(Strikes), that's it. Our starting pitcher has gone five innings each of the last three days," he said. "(They've) been competitive and kept us close."

Monday night's starter was Georgia State's Brian Crooms, who made his final Chinooks appearance before departing for the season. Crooms knew in advance that it would be his final outing, and took full advantage.

The Metter, Ga. native threw five scoreless innings and punched out six Growler hitters. Looking back on his time on the Lakeshore, Crooms feels satisfied with himself.

"I feel like I got a lot of good work out of it," he said.

Koehn Thomas took over for Crooms out of the bullpen, his first and only relief appearance of the season as he prepares to depart as well. Thomas ran into a bit of trouble in the 7th inning, loading the bases with just one out.

"I was just thinking, 'whatever the pitch was, just rip it," he said. Thomas' hardest stuff worked to strike out Connor Shouse on five pitches and induce an infield pop-up to Chinooks second baseman Grant Gray, escaping the inning unscathed.

Thomas had to adjust quickly to a new role out of the pen. On short rest, he wanted to get one final outing in before his summer came to a close.

"Whatever role they can give me, I'll take."

The Santa Barbara CC sophomore leaves the Chinooks a wiser and more experienced pitcher, gaining valuable new insight from his teammates.

"A lot of guys had some good knowledge," he said, adding Crooms helped him develop his changeup. "I learned a lot."

Offensively, the Chinooks took a 1-0 lead off the bat of G. Gray, who's bases-clearing triple in the 4th inning scored David Hogg II. For just playing just his fifth game for the Chinooks since arriving, he's made a strong mark already.

"He's uber-talented," Moreno said. "He's getting better every day. Within two or three weeks, you're going to see how good he is."

The redshirt freshman from UCLA has not played a whole lot of baseball with the Bruins, as he missed the fall season playing football and racked up just 29 at-bats this season.

But Moreno sees the potential, and recognizes the role he can play for the Chinooks.

"He's going to start getting more confident and he's going to start refining his skills...he's a hard worker and a really good kid so I'm really happy for him."

Kalamazoo would tie things in the 6th with a sacrifice fly. But they didn't account for Chinooks catcher Drew Reynold's long ball threat.

Reynolds broke the deadlock with a two-run no-doubter of a home run over the right field wall. It was a hard-earned blast for Reynolds, who fell behind in the count 0-2 before battling back to get his pitch.

"I saw the four-seam coming and just attacked it," he said, crushing his sixth homer of the season and moving into a tie for fourth-most in the league.

"He's been having really good at-bats this past week," Moreno said. "He's a freaking dog. He keeps working hard...for him to go and do that is pretty awesome."

After a slow start, the Chinooks finish the first half 13-23, good for fourth in the Great Lakes West. The second half begins July 1, with a completely fresh start as the standings and records are reset.

With the beginning of the second half comes some significant roster turnover, particularly on the pitching side. Moreno said the Chinooks will bring in 11 new players, seven of which are pitchers.

"I told them, 'I hope you new guys have talked to the old guys about how I am with strikes'," he said, adding with a smile strikes will keep them on his good side.

Lakeshore will get their second half underway with a two-game series with the Green Bay Rockers to finish out a five-game homestand at Moonlight Graham Field. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m. CT.



Northwoods League Stories from July 1, 2025


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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