FOND DU LAC, WI – The Wausau Woodchucks scored in four of their final five innings at the plate to defeat the Fond du Lac Dock Spiders, 12-5, and sweep the two-game series at Athletic Park in Wausau on Sunday.
With the sweep, the Woodchucks are now a half game behind the Dock Spiders for second place overall in the Great Lakes West Division, which will decide the final playoff spot if the Wisconsin Rapids Rafters win the second-half title. The Dock Spiders fell 34-31 with the loss while the Woodchucks improved to 33-31.
The Dock Spiders got out to an early 3-0 in the first off Woodchucks starter Logan Snow (Menlo). Nolan Tichy (UMass) brought home two with a double off the wall in left and Daylen Reyes (UCLA) brought home the final run of the inning with a sacrifice fly.
Dock Spiders starter Bradley Vondruska (Flagler) then got to work in his first appearance of the summer. The righty retired nine of the first 12 batters he faced over three scoreless innings. In the fourth, the Woodchucks would strike back with a two-run homer from Garrett Hill (North Dakota State) to make it 3-2.
In the fifth, the Dock Spiders started the inning with a single from Nick Mitchell (Western Illinois), who tallied his 27th multi-hit game of the summer in his 54th start. A stolen base and a head-up tag from second to third set up Tichy with an RBI opportunity. He brought Mitchell home on a groundout to third to increase the lead to 4-2.
The Woodchucks then got to Dock Spiders pitching staff in the bottom half. Hill smashed his second homer of the game, this time a grand slam to left, and Bradley Comer (UW-Stevens Point) brought home another to put the Woodchucks up with a 7-4 lead.
They would score two in the seventh off an error and another RBI hit from Comer before Nik Levensteins (North Georgia) made it 12-4 with a three-run home run in the eighth. Nick Mitchell would lead off the top of the ninth with a triple and would be brought in by Tyeler Hawkins (Louisville) to end the scoring at 12-5. The triple for Mitchell put him in a six-way tie for the second-most in a single season in Northwoods League history.
Christian Orr (1-0, Columbia International) took the win while Luke Bruckner (0-1, Concordia Univ.–Wisconsin) took the loss. The Dock Spiders continue their four-game road trip tomorrow against the Wisconsin Rapids Rafters. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.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 team.
PHOTO // A FLASH OF SUNSHINE PHOTOGRAPHY
