Pitchers Charlie Ruegger and Chandler Brierley added to pitching staff
Wisconsin Rapids, Wis.-The Rafters have announced the signing of the first two pitchers for the upcoming season. Pitchers Chandler Brierley and Charlie Ruegger from Stevens Institute of Technology will be joining the team once their spring seasons finish.
“We had a tremendous experience partnering with Stevens Institute of Technology last year, which spawned an All-Star arm for us in Quinn Dipasquale,” said Rafters GM John Fanta. “We’re thrilled they are sending two more quality pitchers for the 2018 season.”
The Rafters will be welcoming newcomer Charlie Ruegger to the team. Charlie is a 6-foot-5, 215-pound right handed pitcher who will be playing his junior season this spring. He is coming off a sophomore campaign, where he went 2-1 with a 4.30 ERA. Ruegger had 27 strike outs over 37 innings pitched for the Ducks. He also had 8 saves to top off his strong sophomore year. Charlie is originally from Morris Plain, New Jersey.
Joining Ruegger will be his Stevens Tech teammate, pitcher Chandler Brierley. Chandler is an imposing 6-foot-7, 210 pounds left-handed thrower. Brierley is more than just height as he had a strong freshman season where he appeared in 11 games. He did not record a win or loss but had a 4.76 era. In his 11-innings pitched, he had 6 strike outs and limited hitters to a .184 batting average. Chandler is a native of Ridgewood, New Jersey.
Ruegger, Brierley and the rest of the 2018 Wisconsin Rapids Rafters will begin their season on the road against the Madison Mallards on Tuesday, May 29th. The Home Opener is slated for Friday, June 1st against the Wisconsin Woodchucks. The entire 2018 Rafters schedule is available at www.raftersbaseball.com.
The Rafters are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Entering its 25th anniversary season, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 20 teams, drawing significantly more fans, in a friendly ballpark experience, than any league of its kind. A valuable training ground for coaches, umpires and front office staff, more than 185 former Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist (CHC) and Brandon Crawford (SFG) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (BOS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET) and Curtis Granderson (TOR). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League portal. For more information, visit www.raftersbaseball.com or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play and set the Rafters as your favorite team.