For Wausau Pilot & Review
WAUSAU – The Wausau Woodchucks baseball team won their first game of the season on the back of stellar pitching by a score of 5-0 against the Lakeshore Chinooks on Thursday night at Athletic Park.
Jared Burch (Houston Baptist University) started his first game on the mound for Wausau and came out firing with the first three batters he faced striking out, and five of the first nine going by the strikeout as well.
The Chucks got the bats rolling after Tim Conway (University of North Georgia) moved into scoring position and Hamilton Anderson (State Fair CC) drove in the first run of the day, but the scoring wasn’t done as Daniel Helfgott (Lackawanna College) crossed home plate to go up on the Chinooks 2-0.
Burch had everything going for him, striking out eight and allowing just one hit in six innings on the mound. Wausau added another run in the fifth as Dean Bittner (Mesa CC) drove in a run on a pop fly.
Conway started the Woodchucks off in the sixth with a double to put two into scoring position, and an Anderson single brought in two more and push the Chucks out to a 5-0 lead.
Mike Reagan (Barry University) picked up right where Burch left off, going the final three innings with five strikeouts and only two hits allowed to finish off the shutout with his first save of the season.
The Chucks (1-3) will face the Green Bay Rockers at 6:35 p.m. Friday at Athletic Park, with fireworks to follow the game.
