FOND DU LAC, WI- On Star Wars night in front of an announced crowd of 1,123 people the Fond du Lac Dock Spiders (22-17) lost to the Wisconsin Rapids Rafters (18-21).
Jon Mierzwa (Catholic University) got the start on the mound for Fondy and was in a groove for the first three innings. Mierzwa retired the order two times and dished out seven strikeouts through the first three innings.
Fondy ran into a jam in the 4th inning when the first run would come into score of an error. The second run of the inning would come with one out on an RBI single from Mitch Mallek (St. Cloud).
Rapids would increase their lead in the 5th inning with two outs. First it was and RBI single from Jack Thomas Wold (UNLV) and then a RBI double from Jake Dunham (Northern Illinois) making the lead 4-0 for Wisconsin Rapids.
Andrew Bullock (Western Carolina) increased his hit streak into double digits after leading things off with a base hit in the 5th. Two batters later Cole Zabowski (Ole Miss) belted one hard into right field for a double sending home Bullock. Kiambu Fentress (Vanderbilt) followed with his first double of the season which would round Zabowski home for the second run of the game for Fondy.
Wisconsin would tack on the insurance run in the inning to follow when Matt Schmitt (Michigan) had a leadoff home run.
Despite the loss the fans were amazing at the ballpark and it was back to back nights that Herr-Baker Field had over 1,000 fans in attendance.
The Dock Spiders will start a two game series with the Green Bay Bullfrogs tomorrow at 1:05 from Joannes Stadium.
The Fond du Lac Dock Spiders are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Now in 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 190 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.dockspiders.comor download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play and set the Dock Spiders as your favorite team.
