Kenosha Drops Fourth Game In A Row 7-5
The Kenosha Kingfish fell 7-5 to the Wisconsin Rapids Rafters after giving up a four-run lead at Historic Simmons Field Monday night.
Kenosha has now lost four straight contests, and Wisconsin Rapids has won their last two.
The Rafters struck emphatically in the first frame, as Northwoods League batting average leader Ben Ross led the game off with his seventh homer of the year.
The Kingfish fought back and then some to make it 3-1 after two frames, and it started on a Josh Leslie single that sent Parker Stinson home. James McCoy then hit a two-RBI double in the right-center gap to score Leslie and Gage Williams.
Kenosha expanded their lead to 5-1 in the bottom of the sixth frame courtesy of a Jacob Tobias sacrifice fly (scoring Drake Varnado) and a Drake Westcott single that scored McCoy.
Wisconsin Rapids broke the floodgates open in the seventh frame to tie everything up at 5-5. Ross got hit by a pitch with the bases loaded (scoring Chase Call) to start the inning’s scoring. Harry Owen scored on a wild pitch, and then Jacob Igawa hit Seth Stroh home on a single to left. Ross then stole home on a double steal with runners on the corners to eliminate the Kingfish lead.
The Rafters’ bats stayed hot into the eighth frame, as they put up another two runs to take the lead 7-5. Owen belted a double to right to score Garrett Broussard, and Chris Conniff hit a double of his own to score Owen.
The Rafters did not turn back and held the lead through the end of the game.
Ross led Wisconsin Rapids at the plate going 1-for-4 with a home run, two RBIs and two runs.
McCoy led the Kingfish bats, as he went 2-for-5 with two doubles, a run and an RBI on the day.
Malakai Vetock (2-0) got the win in relief after giving up no earned runs and four hits while striking out three in two innings of work.
Blake Malatestinic (0-3) was responsible for the loss after giving up two runs and three hits with three strikeouts in an inning and two thirds.
Kenosha (14-15) still sits in second place in the Great Lakes East division, and the Wisconsin Rapids Rafters (24-4) stayed hot after clinching the first half Great Lakes West division title.
The Kingfish and Rafters will play the back half of the two-game series on Tuesday at 6:35 p.m.
###
The Northwoods League is the proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. Having completed its’ 27th season, the Northwoods 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 245 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 (WAS), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist (CHC) and Brandon Crawford (SFG) and World Series Champion Chris Sale (BOS). As well as 2019 Rookie of the Year and Home Run Derby Champion Pete Alonso (NYM) and MLB All-Star Jordan Zimmermann (DET). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League website. For more information, visit www.northwoodsleague.com or download the Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play.
