John Rave rounds third base after hitting a 3-run home run in the fifth inning Saturday. Photo courtesy of Doug Timmermann and JK Richards Photography.
LOVES PARK, Ill. – Rockford came in to Saturday’s game without a home run. They will enter Sunday’s game with three.
John Rave (Illinois State), Zach Rheams (Texas Tech), and JC DeMuri (Quincy) all went deep for the Rivets Saturday night as they cruised to a victory over the Fond du Lac Dock Spiders, 7-3. Evan Snyder (Parkland College) got the win for Rockford with six solid innings of work, and Dominic Yearego (West Texas A&M) took the loss for Fond du Lac in relief of Jon Mierzwa (Catholic University of America).
The Dock Spiders struck first in the fourth inning, with Eric Gilgenbach (Notre Dame) driving in Thomas Luevano (Creighton) with a double. Gilgenbach also scored off a fielding error from Rockford’s Ryan Hutchinson (Illinois State).
In the fifth inning, Rockford took the lead. John Rave took Yearego deep to dead center field to put the Rivets up 3-2. The Rivets then added two more runs off a sacrifice fly from Anthony Forte (Louisiana State-Eunice) and RBI single from Trevor Paradoski (Texas Tech) in the sixth.
But Rockford batters weren’t finished. Zach Rheams and JC DeMuri hit back-to-back home runs in the seventh inning to extend the Rivets’ lead to 7-2. Fond du Lac (3-9) added a run in the eighth, but that would be their last. Matt Miller (Louisiana Tech) got the save for Rockford (7-5) in three innings of relief, and secured the Rivets’ fifth win in six games.
The Rivets continue their six-game home stand on Sunday for their first game against the Kenosha Kingfish. Gates open at 3:05 p.m. for the 4:05 p.m. first pitch. You won’t want to miss Sunday’s game – it’s Mystery Envelope Night! Come early to be one of the lucky fans who receives an envelope with a mystery prize inside. Don’t forget to order your Rivets tickets today by calling the Rockford Rivets ticket office at 815.240.4159!
The Rockford Rivets are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League, which will play its 24th season of summer collegiate baseball in 2017. The Northwoods 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, 170 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including two-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (Washington Nationals), two-time World Champion Ben Zobrist (Chicago Cubs) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (Boston Red Sox), Jordan Zimmermann (Detroit Tigers), Curtis Granderson (New York Mets) and Lucas Duda (Mets). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League Website, NorthwoodsLeague.com.
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