By Andrew Mild

It was only a matter of time before the Lake County Corn Dogs clinched a spot in the Northern League playoffs… and they did in their game Tuesday versus the Chicago American Giants.

Check out the box score on Pointstreak

The Corn Dogs came into the game with a 28-10 record, up four games on the Southland Vikings. The Corn Dogs needed a win or a Crestwood Panthers loss. The Panthers won 4-2 over Joliet right before the Corn Dogs game started, so their fate was in their hands.

Chicago came up to the plate and after a walk to Max Bullock, Trey Walker hit a booming double off the left field wall to give the American Giants an early lead.

In the second inning, the Dogs took the lead after they scored four runs off of several walks and a clutch hit from Gavin Terry. Bret Matthys picked up an RBI on a ground out to second base. The fourth inning saw Gino Gazzillo hit a two-RBI double to cut the lead to 4-3. The Corn Dogs sought insurance runs. That’s what they got when Scott Hansen singled in Donavan Noble with two outs to give the Dogs a 5-3 lead.

Jaden Deel stepped up to the plate in the fifth and clobbered the ball over the left field wall for a no-doubt two-run shot, his second home run on the season. The score was then 7-3 in favor of Lake County.

The Corn Dogs were looking for the knockout blow on Chicago, and got that in the sixth inning by scoring three runs. Colin Small laced a double over the left fielder’s head for his fourth two-bagger this season. Lake County built a 10-3 lead and the game ended 10-4.

The Macron Player of the Game was Donovan Nanfeldt, who went 1-1 in the game, drew four walks and scored three times. This was the second time this season where Nanfeldt has walked four times in a game. His on-base percentage this season is now a .448, one of the best on the team.

Photo by Josh Brunette