By Jimmy Carlton Sportswriter Published May 29, 2018 at 1:02 PM

Southeastern Wisconsin’s favorite amateur baseball team begins its seventh season in the developmental, wood-bat Northwoods League for elite college players this weekend at home. The Lakeshore Chinooks open their 2018 season at Kapco Park with a three-game series, featuring a fun, unique and family-friendly lineup of promotional giveaways and new ballpark amenities  including a vegan food stand. 

On Friday, June 1 at 6:35 p.m., the Chinooks host the Kenosha Kingfish. The fan giveaways include a Knit Hat (750 available; presented by Port Washington State Bank) and a 2018 Chinooks magnet schedule (1,000 available; presented by Professional Supply). 

Saturday evening is another 6:35 p.m. start time, with the Rockford Rivets coming north of the border to take on Lakeshore. It’s Milwaukee Brewers Night and the giveaway is a Jerry Augustine Bobblehead commemorating the former player and now team broadcaster (1,000 available; presented by Robert Haack Diamonds). 

The weekend finale is Sunday at 5:05 p.m. against the Wisconsin Rapid Rafters. It’s Star Wars Night (presented by Town Bank) and Friends and Family Night (presented by Buffalo Wild Wings), with plenty of Star Wars-themed entertainment.

"We have unique and authentic promotions that our fans will really enjoy right off the bat," said Chinooks General Manager Shawn Kison. "Our roster of college players and coaches is among the best in the Northwoods League. We also have some exciting and creative new features and concessions for our seventh season here at Kapco Park."

Kapco Park, the 3,000-seat venue on the Concordia University campus in Mequon, has several brand-new features for 2018. There’s Gill’s Minnows Kids Club and Kids Zone, with a 15-foot inflatable slide; a Prize Wheel with craft beers in the Great Lakes Brewing Co. Fishin’ Hole; fresh funnel cake at the Wing It! Wing Shake; the Catalyst Sports Training Center for Chinooks players and youth baseball camps; and the Field of Greens vegan food stand, offering tasty and healthy options like the Impossible Burger. 

For more information and to buy tickets, click here.

Born in Milwaukee but a product of Shorewood High School (go ‘Hounds!) and Northwestern University (go ‘Cats!), Jimmy never knew the schoolboy bliss of cheering for a winning football, basketball or baseball team. So he ditched being a fan in order to cover sports professionally - occasionally objectively, always passionately. He's lived in Chicago, New York and Dallas, but now resides again in his beloved Brew City and is an ardent attacker of the notorious Milwaukee Inferiority Complex.

After interning at print publications like Birds and Blooms (official motto: "America's #1 backyard birding and gardening magazine!"), Sports Illustrated (unofficial motto: "Subscribe and save up to 90% off the cover price!") and The Dallas Morning News (a newspaper!), Jimmy worked for web outlets like CBSSports.com, where he was a Packers beat reporter, and FOX Sports Wisconsin, where he managed digital content. He's a proponent and frequent user of em dashes, parenthetical asides, descriptive appositives and, really, anything that makes his sentences longer and more needlessly complex.

Jimmy appreciates references to late '90s Brewers and Bucks players and is the curator of the unofficial John Jaha Hall of Fame. He also enjoys running, biking and soccer, but isn't too annoying about them. He writes about sports - both mainstream and unconventional - and non-sports, including history, music, food, art and even golf (just kidding!), and welcomes reader suggestions for off-the-beaten-path story ideas.