FOND DU LAC, Wis. – The Rockford Rivets (22-19, 5-2) lost a close one to the Fond Du Lac Dock Spiders (19-24, 3-2), 9-8, at Herr-Baker Field Wednesday night.
The Dock Spiders came to play early, scoring four runs on three hits in the bottom of the first inning. The Rivets made two errors in the inning behind starter Jon Laird (Illinois-Springfield), went just one inning in the game. Only two of the four runs Laird gave up were earned. Fond Du Lac then tacked on two runs in the second to go up 6-0.
The Rivets got two back in the top of the third on Hunter Feduccia’s (LSU) two-run home run, his sixth of the season. Then in the fifth, Rockford batted through the lineup and rallied for five runs on five hits. Neal Tyrell (Lewis) drove in two runs with a single to left field to make it 6-4 Dock Spiders, then two batters later, JC DeMuri (Quincy) did the same with a two-run single of his own to tie the game. Brett Whelton (McNeese State) followed DeMuri’s hit with an RBI single up the middle to give the Rivets a 7-6 lead.
Fond Du Lac came back to tie the game in the fifth and then took a 7-6 lead after the sixth. But the Rivets tied it 8-8 in the eighth on a Zach Watson (LSU) RBI single. The game stayed tied until Thomas Luevano hit a walk-off RBI single to center field with two outs in the bottom of the ninth to give the Dock Spiders a 9-8 win. It was the first walk-off win in Dock Spiders’ history.
Alex Bacevicius (South Suburban College) made his season debuted and worked five solid innings for the Rivets out of the bullpen. Brian Wichman (Indianapolis) looked good in his two and two-thirds innings of work, but took the tough loss after giving up the walk-off single. Houston Glad (Creighton) got the win in relief and Brandon Wulff (Stanford) went 5 for 5 with two doubles and three runs for the Dock Spiders.
The Rivets begin a two-game series with the Wisconsin Woodchucks at 6:35 p.m. Thursday, their final home series before the All-Star break.
The Rockford Rivets 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, 180 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.rockfordrivets.com or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play and set the Rivets as your favorite team.
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