WISCONSIN RAPIDS, WI – The Dock Spiders (22-13) saw their nine-game win streak come to an end on Wednesday night as the Wisconsin Rapids Rafters (24-9) silenced the opposing offense in a shutout 6-0 victory.
The Dock Spiders went into Wednesday’s game following a miraculous come from behind walk-off win at home on Tuesday against the Wisconsin Woodchucks, a game that looked as though was going to end the streak. Somehow, Fond du Lac managed nine runs in the last two innings to get a 10-9 win in the ninth to stun the Chucks and record their ninth straight win.
It seemed as though the bats were out of gas going into Witter Field, as they only registered four hits in the entire game. Fondy could never get a rally going, though they did come close to scoring in the top of the third after Victor Scott II (West Virginia University) tried to push a bunt up the third base line to score Brayden Frazier (University of Iowa), but Scott II was thrown out by half a step at first that ended the inning.
The Rafters scored one run in both the fourth and fifth innings to go up 2-0. That was followed by a two-run sixth that put the home team up 4-0.
Wisconsin Rapids would tack on two more in the bottom of the eighth for good measure to go out to a 6-0 lead.
The Rafters’ pitching staff, the best in the pod and third-best in the league in earned run average (3.00) continued to dominate on the mound, as they sent three different arms in that struck out nine Dock Spiders and allowed zero walks.
Jake Saum (UCLA) held his own on the mound, going five full innings and allowing just two runs on five hits and striking out seven in his start.
The Dock Spiders will try to start a new winning streak tonight, as they will host the Rafters in a 6:35 Friday night showdown from Herr-Baker Field at Marian University.
The Fond du Lac Dock Spiders are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. The Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. Having completed its’ 26th season, the Northwoods 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 230 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including three-time All-Star and 2016 Roberto Clemente Award winner Curtis Granderson, three-time Cy Young Award winner and World Series Champion Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist (CHC) and Brandon Crawford (SFG) and World Series Champion Chris Sale (BOS). As well as 2019 Rookie of the Year and Home Run Derby Champion Pete Alonso (NYM) and MLB All-Star Jordan Zimmermann (DET). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League website. 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.
