PHOTO VIA A FLASH OF SUNSHINE PHOTOGRAPHY
FOND DU LAC, WI – The Fond du Lac Dock Spiders scored in six of their final seven innings at the plate to overcome an early 2-0 deficit, and defeated the Wausau Woodchucks, 11-3, on Saturday night at Herr-Baker Field.
The Dock Spiders improved to 31-27 on the year, and 12-12 in the second half. The Woodchucks fell to 29-29, 12-10 in the second half. The win gave the Dock Spiders a two-game lead on the Woodchucks and Lakeshore Chinooks for the second-best overall record in the Great Lakes West Division, meaning if the season ended today, the Dock Spiders would make the playoffs.
Nick Mitchell (Western Illinois), Branden Comia (Illinois), Parker Noland (Vanderbilt), Daylen Reyes (UCLA), and Andrew Sojka (CSUN) all tallied a multi-hit night. Mitchell became the third Dock Spiders in franchise history to reach the 40 RBI mark in a season with a sacrifice fly and a two-RBI double. Reyes set a career-high with four hits and became the second Dock Spiders in as many nights to reach the mark after Sawyer Smith (St. Cloud State) notched four on Friday.
The Woodchucks took an early 2-0 lead in the first when Chase Hug (Evansville) notched his seventh home run of the year to right. The Dock Spiders, however, would battle back and scored one in the second of an error and another in the third off a wild pitch to tie it at two.
In the fourth, the Dock Spiders would use a sacrifice fly from Mitchell and Cole Messina (South Carolina) to take a 4-2 lead, and never looked back. They would tally another in the fifth off a triple from Sojka and three more in the sixth when Nolan Tichy (UMass), Noland, and Reyes combined to make it 8-3 in an eight-batter inning. In the eight, they would tally their final three off an RBI double from Sojka and a two-RBI double from Mitchell to make it 11-3.
Nate Leibold (2-1, UCLA) earned the win with three scoreless innings while Woodchucks starter Nate Madej (1-2, Florida Southern) took the loss. The two teams will meet tomorrow afternoon at 1:05 p.m. in Wausau.
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. Now in its’ 29th 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, 300 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 and on ESPN+. For more information, visit www.greenbayrockers.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.