Kenosha, Wis. – Wisconsin Rapids Wis. – Looking for their fourth straight win to start the second half, the Kingfish faced the Wisconsin Rapids Rafter for game number two. The Kingfish (3-1, 19-17) took the lead twice but could not maintain it and fell behind to lose 14-5.

The Kingfish were shut down for the first two innings against Rafters starter Nick Blackburn, but broke through in the third with back-to-back singles to start the inning by Steven Sensley and Alex Borglin. Zack Kolakowski then sacrificed them over to set up a Taylor Douglas RBI single to give King Elvis’ crew a 1-0 lead. 

In his first start of the year, Justin Peters struggled to get outs early, leading to a Rafters full count homer to tie the game at 1-1. Peters would only last one more inning, going four plus innings giving up seven hits and three runs while striking out three and walking one.

The Kingfish broke the tie in the fifth inning with a Borlgin lead-off single and a Kolakowski sacrifice. Douglas was then hit by a pitch to move runners to second and first. Chris Godinez then lined out to bring the RBI leader in the league, Pat Porter. Porter would not disappoint as he smashed a single back through the middle to score Borglin from second and gave the Kingfish a 2-1 lead.

The middle of the game caused trouble for the Kingfish bullpen. Connor Kelly came into the game in the fifth but gave up two hits to put the Rafters up 3-2. Garrett McKenzie had the bases loaded and cleared the bases on a double. Josh Daniels would make his first appearance and would finish the inning but not before five hits and seven runs came across for the Rafters to lead 8-2.

A late rally in the seventh for the Kingfish would fall short as they loaded the bases and could only push one run across. Buddy Reed, pinch hitting for Porter, singled home Kolakowski.

The Kingfish rallied one last time in the eighth to close the gap to eight runs on a two RBI single from Douglas (3-4, 3RBI). The Rafters would get one last run in the ninth to finish the job. With the loss, General Manager Jake McGhee is off the hook and can enjoy a bed after being marooned on the Bambino for the last three nights.

The Kingfish return to Simmons Field tomorrow, Sunday, July 6^th for a double header against the Wisconsin Woodchucks. The affair features “Bark in the Park” night and a performance by Whiplash the Cowboy Riding Monkey. For more information regarding the doubleheader, visit kingfishbaseball.com

The Kingfish office is located at 7817 Sheridan Road and is open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on Saturday. For more information on 7-game packs, season or group tickets, please log on to kingfishbaseball.com or call 262.653.0900.