Corn Dogs’ Win Clinches Season Title for Second Year

By Noel Fary

The Lake County Corn Dogs defeated the Elkhart County Miracle with a second straight walk-off performance on Thursday.

The 11-10 extra-inning home win clinched the regular season championship for the Corn Dogs and secured the No. 1 overall seed in the 2023 Northern League playoffs.

However, due to inclement weather expected Friday evening, the game versus the Southland Vikings won’t be played. The Corn Dogs are scheduled to play the Vikings on Saturday. Game time is 7 p.m. Sunday’s final regular season home game, versus the Miracle, gets going at 4 p.m.

Check out the box score from the game.

The Miracle traveled back to Legacy Fields for a second game in a row, looking for revenge after Tyler Schultz delivered a walk-off base hit to end Wednesday’s game.

Adam Walters started on the mound for the Corn Dogs, completing a scoreless first inning. However, the Miracle offense that gave the Corn Dogs trouble all year was not going down without a fight.

After taking a 1-0 lead in the top of the second, the Miracle watched as six Corn Dogs runs crossed home, quickly swinging all momentum to one side.

The middle of the Miracle’s batting order jumped on Walters in the top of the third, scoring three runs off two hits, keeping them within striking distance of the Corn Dogs. Dramatics are common between these two teams, and after five grueling innings, the score read 7-7.

After a three-run bottom of the sixth, the Corn Dogs could practically taste their regular season title, but some clutch hitting from the Miracle tied the game headed into the bottom of the ninth. The Corn Dogs loaded the bases with one out but could not score the game winning run.

Corn Dogs newcomer Christian Bokich came through, pitching a scoreless top of the tenth and set up his team for another walk-off opportunity.

Zach Zychowski sent a ball into right field that bounced out of the glove of Nathaniel Garcia, placing Zychowski on second. In just his second game back from injury, Matt Santana (Macron Player of the Game) jumped on the Miracle, delivering a base hit, sending Zychowski home and winning the game for the Corn Dogs.

Corn Dogs manager Justin Huisman felt it was a team effort that allowed his guys to put together the necessary wins to clinch the top seed in the playoffs again this year.

“I think it’s more that we’re just picking each other up more,” Huisman said. “Our offense is good enough where as long as we put up some zeros for most of the game, or part of the game, we have a chance to win.”

In just their second season as a franchise, the Corn Dogs take home the regular season title, and have their eyes set on the playoffs in just over a week away.

“This year it feels almost even better,” Huisman said. “To come out and do it again with the competition we’ve been facing, it’s just really sweet.”