WISCONSIN RAPIDS, WI— The Fond du Lac Dock Spiders (12-16) traveled to face the Wisconsin Rapids Rafters (16-12). The Dock Spiders pitching staff showed up, unfortunately the offense couldn’t piece it together.
Sam Grace (Southern Illinois) got the nod and he has pitched well all year. He came in with a sub-two ERA.
The Rapids pitcher was also very good, so it was destined to be a pitchers duel all night. And that is exactly what we got.
Grace threw four innings and went into the fifth before giving up a lead off single and then being yanked. He allowed three runs on four hits.
The Dock Spiders found themselves trailing 2-0 in the first inning. That’s all the Rapids would need against this offense. Bubba Horton (Minnesota) would relieve Grace and go two innings, striking out three.
Kyle Hall (Indiana Wesleyan) came in for the final two frames and shut down the Rapids offense. The Dock Spiders offense would get opportunities but unable to do the job.
They found themselves with second and third with one out in the fifth, but could not manufacture a run. That was the only time they’d get a runner to third until the ninth.
Zeb Adreon (Iowa) led the ninth inning off with a double. The Dock Spiders would go 1-2-3 from there. But fortunately a balk would score Adreon and kill the shutout.
The Dock Spiders would go on to lose 3-1. Dominant pitching on both sides.
The Dock Spiders and the Rapids go head-to-head tomorrow night 7:05 PM CST.
The Fond du Lac Dock Spiders are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. The 25-year old summer collegiate league is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 22 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, over 200 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 (MIA). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League portal. For more information, visit www.dockspiders.com or 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.
