WISCONSIN RAPIDS, Wis. – Continuing the road trip Sunday, the Kenosha Kingfish (7-12) closed a series with the Wisconsin Rapids Rafters (11-8) taking a 9-1 loss in the process.

Kaleb Schmidt (Drury) started on the mound and went 4.1 innings before being relieved. Schmidt struck out four and allowed six runs on only five hits.

The Rafters had the lead all game long after Steven Rivas led off the bottom of the first inning with a home run to left field. Just three batters later, Mitch Mallek followed suit by blasting a two-run shot to the same part of the field. The home runs were placed perfectly as the wind was blowing in from right-center and would have knocked these fly balls down if they were hit that way.

The Kingfish scored their lone run in the top of the third inning. With two outs, Scott Dubrule (Jacksonville) hit a sharp single down the third base line. Dubrule had to hustle to get to second but good baserunning allowed him to slide in just ahead of the tag.

To keep the two-out rally alive, Jack Weiller (Virginia) followed up with his own double down the right field line. This time though, Weiller batted it into the corner which allowed for a stand-up trip to second.

The Kingfish bats were shutout after that point, but Mike Madej (NW Florida State) and Ben Troike (Illinois) still managed base hits.

After playing 20 straight games to begin the season, the Kenosha Kingfish get their first day off of the year Monday. The same goes for the rest of the Northwoods League. Monday’s day off will be the final one until Monday, July 16.

After the day off, the Kingfish will finish off their road trip in Michigan taking on Battle Creek and Kalamazoo. The Kingfish start with Battle Creek Tuesday at 7:05 p.m.