LOVES PARK, Ill. – The Wisconsin Rapids Rafters scored a run in the seventh and another in the twelfth to send the Rivets to their fifth straight loss, 6-5 on Friday night at Rivets Stadium.
After the Rivets broke the ice in the first, Rapids would respond in the second. Joey Morgan (Washington) and Patrick Cromwell (Clemson) both singled and Brandon Polizzi (Cal State Dominguez Hills) walked to load the bases. Andrew Turner (LIU-Brooklyn) drove a run home with a groundout before Scott Capers (Valparaiso) doubled home Cromwell and Polizzi to make it 3-1. Richie Palacios (Towson) would drive home Capers to make it 4-1.
The Rivets would score two in the third, and take the lead in the fourth. Marijn Van Berkel (Amsterdam Pirates) doubled before four consecutive singles by Neal Tyrell (Lewis University), Ryan Long (Texas Tech), Hunter Hargrove (Texas Tech) and Ricardo Ramirez (Illinois-Chicago) gave Rockford a 5-4 lead.
The game turned into a battle of bullpens after Rapids scored an unearned run in the seventh to tie the game at 5. It remained tied until the twelfth. Cromwell walked, and after a sacrifice bunt, Polizzi drove home Cromwell with a run-scoring double off of Matt Vanek (Wisconsin-Milwaukee), who dropped to 0-1 on the season, to make it 6-5 Rafters. Blair Lakso (Buffalo) pitched the eleventh to get the win and improve to 6-0 on the summer and Garrett Schilling (Xavier) picked up his league-leading 16th save.
The Rivets will open up a two game series against the Willmar Stingers at Rivets Stadium Saturday night at 6:35. Broadcasts and live streams can be found at NorthwoodsLeague.com.
Rockford is a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League, which will play its 23rd season of summer collegiate baseball in 2016. The Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 18 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 150 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (Washington Nationals) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (Chicago White Sox), Jordan Zimmermann (Detroit Tigers), Curtis Granderson (New York Mets), Lucas Duda (Mets) and Ben Zobrist (Chicago Cubs). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League Website, NorthwoodsLeague.com. For more information, visit RockfordRivets.com.