WAUSAU, WI— Electricity, thats the word to describe tonights game against the Wisconsin Woodchucks (9-13). The game came down to the final two innings.
It was Ryan Bader (Northwestern) taking the mound tonight and he did his job. Just two bad pitches resulted in two home runs being hit.
The Dock Spiders would chip away and tie it up. An RBI single by Otto Grimm (Minnesota) to cut into the deficit.
Then in the seventh inning the Dock Spiders would get the bases loaded and a wild pitch would tie the game up for the Dock Spiders.
Then in the eighth the Woodchucks would put four runs on the board and take a 6-2 lead into the ninth.
After the first two men getting out, chances of winning looked bleak. Until the Woodchucks imploded.
A walk, double, and another walk would load the bases up for Tim Elko (Mississippi) who would come up with the pinch hit two-run double.
With Elko being the tying run at second, Zack Prajzner (Notre Dame) would come up clutch on a two-run single to tie the game at six.
After a stolen base by Prajzner and a walk to Grimm, it was down to Sam Novitske (Oregon). He would come up with two strikes and drive in the go-ahead run to take the lead 7-6.
All five runs came with two outs. Max Cioffi (Mississippi) came in and shut it down after a two out triple.
The Dock Spiders may have sparked a turning point with just three weeks in the season left. They face the first place Wisconsin Rapids Rafters tomorrow night in the Wisconsin Rapids at 6:05 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.
