KENOSHA, Wis. – The Kenosha Kingfish (28-22, 6-9) fell twice on Saturday as Wisconsin Rapids blanked them in both games of a doubleheader by scores of 3-0 and 12-0 at Historic Simmons Field. The Kingfish recorded just two hits in each game.
Both teams were locked in a pitchers’ duel in game one, despite the Kingfish having to turn to their bullpen early.
Left-handed starter George Faue (Northern Illinois) worked a scoreless first inning, but was forced to leave the game before starting the second inning after injuring his arm during warm-ups. Davis Schwab (Johnson CC) then got the ball out of the bullpen, and pitched four scoreless innings. Austin Paisar (Eastern New Mexico) followed with two more shutout innings of work, with Justin Hasek (Galveston CC) then entering to pitch a scoreless eighth inning.
The Rafters broke the scoreless tie in the top of the ninth inning, however, with four hits off Hasek that scored three runs that decided the game.
Wisconsin Rapids wasted no time scoring their first run in Game 2, touching home plate at the same time as it recorded its first out. The offense kept coming in droves the rest of the way for the Rafters, who scored in five of their final seven at-bats to run away with the game.
The Kingfish offense, meanwhile, remained stagnant throughout both games. They were no-hit through the first four innings of Game 1 and the first six innings of Game 2, and reached third base just once over the course of both games.
First baseman Derek Bangert (Bradley) singled in Game 1 and was hit by a pitch in Game 2 to extend his on-base streak to 47 games. Second baseman Mike Madej (Purdue) collected both hits in Game 2 to finish 2-for-4.
The Kingfish will battle the Rafters again Sunday at 4:05p.m.
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The Kenosha Kingfish are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. The 23-year-old summer collegiate league is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 20 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, more than 170 former Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including two-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champion Ben Zobrist (CHC) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (BOS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET), Curtis Granderson (NYM) and Lucas Duda (NYM). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League portal. For more information, visit www.kingfishbaseball.com or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play and set the Kingfish as your favorite team.
