Wisconsin Wins 10-8, Series Ends with Split  

Midland, Mich.– The Great Lakes Loons (42-20) and the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (25-36) each won three games in this week's six-game series. Wisconsin were winners in the series finale 10-8 on a sunny 80-degree Sunday Father’s Day at Dow Diamond.

The Loons went 7-4 in the 11 home games played in the last two weeks. If Great Lakes goes 2-1 over the final three games of the first half, they would finish with the best record in a half, in franchise history.

In the bottom of the second, the Loons scored half of their eight runs. Damon Keith walked and then advanced to third after a wild pitch. He scored on a second wild pitch. Max Hewitt walked, and Chris Alleyne singled to put runners on the corners.

Jake Vogel then ripped a double down the left-field line to make it 3-0. After a stolen base, Vogel was plated on a fielder’s choice groundout.

Hyun-il Choi started the game for Great Lakes and allowed just three baserunners through the first three innings. Wisconsin pulled within a run in the fourth after a three-run homer from Ernesto Martinez Jr. The base runners reached on an error and infield single.

Another Jake Vogel two-run double increased the Loons' lead to 6-3 in the fourth. Luis Diaz was hit by a pitch, and stole second. Max Hewitt walked.

Carlos De Los Santos struck out the side in the fifth, and Robbie Peto punched out two in a 10-pitch sixth. Wisconsin's woes ended in the seventh. The Timber Rattlers tallied five runs off six hits, all off Peto.

Three straight hits opened the inning with a Robert Moore RBI double pushing across the first run. A groundout scored the next run to pull it to a one-run deficit. Another single put runners on the corners. Alex Hall then bounced the first pitch he saw to shortstop. A misthrow towards first base brought both runners across to make it 7-6. An Eduardo Garcia RBI base knock made it a two-run lead.

The closest Great Lakes got was in the bottom of the seventh. Chris Newell hammered his fifth home run as a Loon, 427 feet to right field. The Loons then trailed 8-7. Newell has 19 homers combined at the Low-A and High-A level, which is tied for first for the most in MiLB.

Wisconsin went on to produce two more runs of insurance. An Ernesto Martinez Jr. single and a Terence Doston walk put two on. The Timber Rattlers executed a double steal. Robert Moore scored Martinez Jr. on a single, and a Joe Gray Jr. groundout drove in Doston.

Great Lakes down 10-7 in the ninth, had the potential tying run come up to the plate. With one out, Jake Vogel walked and stole second. Chris Newell walked and pushed out Tanner Shears, who worked the previous two innings.

Frank Rodriguez singled off the newly entered Luis Amaya to pull the Loons within two. With runners on the corners, a 4-6-3 double play ended the game.

Great Lakes hits the road to start a six-game series with the West Michigan Whitecaps. Game one starts Tuesday, June 20th, first pitch is at 6:35 p.m.

The Great Lakes Loons have been the Single-A partner of the Los Angeles Dodgers since the team’s inception in 2007. Dow Diamond serves as the team’s home and also houses the Michigan Baseball Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit public charity, and ESPN 100.9-FM. For tickets or information about the Loons, call 989-837-BALL or visit Loons.com.