Published On: May 30th, 2022

FOND DU LAC, WI – The Fond du Lac Dock Spiders tallied 11 runs and 16 hits at the plate, including four from Nick Mitchell (Western Illinois), while Austin Wagner (Mary) struck out seven in six shutout innings to give the Dock Spiders their fifth straight Opening Day victory, 11-2, over the Wausau Woodchucks.

Five different Dock Spiders tallied a multi-hit game and three tallied a multi-RBI game.

“It’s good to see the guys celebrate each other,” said manager Zac Charbonneau. “There was a lot of good today. Wagner competed and was great. There are a lot of ways to win a baseball game, and we found a few today.”

Fond du Lac got the offense going early, sending eight men to the plate in the first. Tommy Stevenson (Southern Missouri State) and Connor Manthey (Bradley) both singled home a run to put the Dock Spiders up 2-0.

Wagner, the Fond du Lac native, went to work, scattering five hits over six shutout innings while throwing just 70 pitches. The win was his seventh as a Dock Spider in his first appearance since the 2018 championship season.

The Dock Spiders then exploded in the sixth inning to take a 9-0 lead, scoring seven runs on seven hits, and sent 12 men to the plate. The inning was capped off by a two-RBI single from Cole Messina (South Carolina), followed by a two-RBI triple from Stephen Schissler (Nova Southeastern).

Fond du Lac would score again in the seventh and the eighth off four hits to take an 11-0 lead, their largest of the game, which included a triple from Mitchell for his fourth hit of the day.

With the win, the Dock Spiders improve to 5-1 all time on Opening Day, and are now undefeated in three Opening Day games against the Woodchucks, outscoring them 24-6.

The Dock Spiders travel to Wausau tomorrow night to take on the Woodchucks at Athletic Park for the first road game of the season. The Dock Spiders return home on Thursday to take on the Green Bay Rockers at 11:35 a.m.

 

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’ 28th 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 280 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 (NYM), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist and Brandon Crawford (SFG) and World Series Champion Chris Sale (BOS). As well as 2019 Rookie of the Year and 2019/2021 Home Run Derby Champion Pete Alonso (NYM) and 2021 All-Star, MLB Gold Glove winner and 2019 Second Team All-MLB shortstop Marcus Semien (TEX). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League website. League games are viewable live at watchnwl.com. For more information, visit dockspiders.com download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play and set the Dock Spiders as your favorite t

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