By Ryan Zimmerman, Gary SouthShore RailCats

Oconomowoc, WI – The Gary SouthShore RailCats (35-46) were powerless to stop a Lake Country DockHounds (41-40) team that fired on all cylinders as they dropped Tuesday’s series opener 8-1. 

Lake Country’s offense found its rhythm early, propelling them to a big lead.  They plated runs in four of their first five trips to the plate, building a 7-0 by the end of the fifth inning. 

At that point, Gary SouthShore’s bullpen stepped up to cool the DockHounds down.  Jared Price and Quincy Jones each tossed scoreless frames, combining for three strikeouts in the process. 

Down to their final six outs, the RailCats lineup broke through and found their way into the run column.  With two outs, Jesus Marriaga worked a walk and Marcos Gonzalez got hit by a pitch, setting up LG Castillo to drive in a run.  He proceeded to ground a single through the left side of the infield, scoring Marriaga from second base to lower Gary SouthShore’s deficit to six. 

However, the DockHounds produced an immediate response in the bottom of the eighth. Without registering a single hit, Lake Country manufactured their eighth run, benefitting from three walks and a hit batsman to restore their seven-run edge. 

From then on, the DockHounds bullpen went the rest of the way, getting the final three outs to secure the victory. 

The RailCats head back to Wisconsin Brewing Company Park tomorrow at 6:35 p.m. to try and level their series against the DockHounds.  All the action will be streamed on aabaseball.tv as well as broadcast over the radio on 95.9 WEFM and the Gary SouthShore RailCats Broadcast Network via the Mixlr app.