Green Bay sweeps Fond du Lac in final season series between two teams
Photo contributed by Carlos Gonzalez
Ashwaubenon, Wis.- In the last regular season home game of the 2023 season, the Green Bay Rockers took down the Fond du Lac Dock Spiders 6-4 Thursday at Capital Credit Union Park, handing them their series sweep and their 19th win of the second half with just two games remaining in the regular season.
Green Bay secured the series sweep led by a two-run homer from Andrew Harris (UW-Parkside), as the two-run bomb gave the Rockers a 6-3 late in the ballgame, which they held onto to take home the victory in front of a record crowd of 2,640 Thursday night.
Quinn Falish (Michigan St) started the game strong on the mound with a 1-2-3 top of the first inning, and he followed it up with another scoreless inning in the second, keeping the Dock Spiders off the board through the first two innings with him recording three strikeouts in the first two frames in Ashwaubenon.
After each team did not score in the third, Fond du Lac struck first in the top of the fourth on a solo homer from Parker Knoll (Lawrence University), but the Rockers responded very quickly in the bottom of the fourth on an RBI single from Harris to even it up at one apiece going into the fifth.
The Dock Spiders tacked on two runs in the fifth courtesy of an RBI single from Bradley Comer (Wisconsin-Stevens Point) and an error that scored Bradley Zackrison (Marian), with the two runs giving the Dock Spiders a two-run advantage halfway through the contest.
Green Bay however came back once again in the bottom of the fifth, with two runs on an RBI walk drawn by Jayson Jones (Arkansas) and an RBI hit by pitch from Mateo Matthews (Wagner College). This evened up the score once again at 3-3 going into the sixth at Capital Credit Union Park.
After Michael Riley (Gateway Community College) threw a scoreless top of the sixth, the Rockers took the first lead of the night off the bat of Carlos Hernandez (Anderson) with his RBI single handing the home team a 4-3 lead entering the seventh with the crowd continuing to erupt.
The biggest hit of the night came in the bottom of the seventh with it being a two-run homer from Harris that pushed the Rockers lead to three at 6-3 going into the eighth as Green Bay remained well out in front.
The Dock Spiders tacked on a run in the top of the eighth, but Riley quickly escaped the damage by retiring the last two batters he faced, as the game went into the ninth with Green Bay still leading by two at 6-4 at Capital Credit Union Park.
Riley finished his five innings pitched in the ninth with a scoreless final frame, securing the series sweep for Green Bay over Fond du Lac and winning the final home game of the regular season.
Green Bay now heads to Wisconsin Rapids to take on the Rafters at Witter Field, with first pitch Friday night set for 6:35 p.m. It will be the final two games of the regular season beginning Friday night on the road, with the Rockers still in search of hosting the sub-divisional round of the 2023 Northwoods League Playoffs.
Single game tickets are on sale now. Visit www.greenbayrockers.com or call the ticket office at 920-497-7225 to reserve your seats today. The Rockers front office and Team Apparel Fan Shop at Capital Credit Union Park are located at 2231 Holmgren Way in Ashwaubenon. Office hours are Monday-Friday 8:30am-5pm.
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The Green Bay Rockers 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’ 30th season, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 24 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 325 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 Rockers as your favorite team.
