Lakeshore Cruises to Win over Wisconsin Rapids
Northwoods Lakeshore Chinooks

Lakeshore Cruises to Win over Wisconsin Rapids

Published on July 19, 2026 under Northwoods League (Northwoods)
Lakeshore Chinooks News Release


MEQUON, WI - Entering Saturday, July 18 with a 20-3 home record and atop the Great Lakes West with a 11-3 second-half record, the Lake Michigan Shipwreckers (Lakeshore Chinooks) hosted the Wisconsin Rapids Rafters at Moonlight Graham Field.

The Shipwreckers entered Saturday leading the season series 3-1. For the first time against Wisconsin Rapids this season, the Shipwreckers' scored in the first inning. The scoring started when David Mysza hit a RBI groundout with zero outs and the bases loaded.

Lakeshore did not stop there, as later in the inning Vance Celiberti drove in two runs on a single to right field. Directly after Celiberti in the lineup, Sam Myers made it a four-run inning with a RBI single.

Scoring 11 first-inning runs in their last three games, Assistant Coach Brian Gregory said the club is ready to go from the start and doesn't waver from their approach.

"Once the game stuff happens sometimes we fall and falter - but they have a good approach from the get go from [batting practice] and they carry it over to the first inning," Gregory said. "That's why we've been so successful early in games."

Down early in the game, the Rafters got to Shipwreckers' starting pitcher Ryan Brennecke in the top half of the second inning, scoring a run on a Erick Soto-Zelaya RBI single. After allowing a lone run to score in the inning, Brennecke quieted the Rafters' offense the rest of his start.

From the third to his final inning of work in the fifth, Rafters' batters went 2-9 with five strikeouts. Striking out the side in the first inning and a batter in the second inning, Brennecke's nine strikeouts are the most in a game for a Lakeshore pitcher this season.

Brennecke had a fastball heavy approach the first time through the Rafters' order, and was able to collect 13 whiffs in the process. With the Rafters' sitting on his fastball, Brennecke said he had to mix up his pitch mix as the game went on.

"I had to mix it up because I knew they were going to try and jump my first heater. I feel like that was the whole gameplan going into the day because they weren't really late on the heater," Brennecke said.

Along with the Rafters' bats being silenced, the Shipwreckers struggled to produce runs after the first inning. Despite having eight players reach base safely through innings 2-6, the Shipwreckers left eight runners stranded.

That was the case until the bottom of the seventh inning, when the Shipwreckers extended their lead to five with a two-run inning. With runners on first and second with one out, Jack Counsell came up big, driving in two runs on a single.

Leading 6-1 after 7 1/2 inning, the Shipwreckers blew the game open by scoring five runs in the bottom of the eighth inning. In the inning, Sam Myers secured a perfect 4-4 day at the plate with a RBI single to right field.

Sitting on a 10-game hitting streak, Myers has 10 multi-hit games in 25 games played. With a contact-heavy approach, Myers has 10 strikeouts in 96 plate appearances.

"He sticks to his plan. He does a good job using the whole field and I think it's just because of his approach," Gregory said when talking about Myers.

Finishing the inning with five runs on five hits, the Shipwreckers cruised to a comfortable 11-1 win. Following Brennecke on the mound, the bullpen pitched four hitless innings.

With the win, Lakeshore is now 7-3 since Gregory took over as the club's field manager. In their last 10 games, Lakeshore has a +18 run differential. Winners of their last 12 at home, Lakeshore is back at Moonlight Graham Field Sunday as the club looks to sweep a two-game set against Wisconsin Rapids.

First pitch is set for 1:05 pm CDT.

Eli Benes

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Northwoods League Stories from July 19, 2026


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