Green Bay, Wis – Early accuracy issues helped fuel the Rockford Rivets (15-11) to an 8-4 win over the Green Bay Bullfrogs (9-17) on Sunday afternoon in Joannes Stadium.
Green Bay starting pitcher McKinley Moore walked seven of the first eight batters he saw in the top of the second inning to give the Rivets a 4-0 lead without even putting the ball in play. Then, Mason Templet singled off Moore to drive home Cory Wright and push the lead to five. After a pitching change, Wyatt Mascarella took the first pitch he saw to deep center field for a double to drive in two more runs for the Rivets and cap a seven-run top of the second.
“We did a good job in the second inning allowing that pitcher to pitch himself into trouble,” Rivets’ Manager Brian Smith said, “He wasn’t able to get himself out, and obviously we capitalized. We only scored eight tonight and seven came in that one inning, but it really doesn’t matter when you score your runs or how you score them, you just have to score them, and we did that tonight.”
Chase Kueter put in five innings of work for the Rivets and picked up the win. Kueter allowed two runs and five hits while striking out three. JT Baksha and Anthony Holubecki each got two innings in relief of Kueter. Baksha struck out two while allowing one hit and no runs, and although Holubecki allowed two runs, the Notre Dame right hander was able to finish off the Bullfrogs in the bottom of the ninth.
“JT [Baksha] came in and he’s done really well here in Green Bay,” Smith said, “He’s just come in and dominated while we’ve been here. It helps having a lefty strike-thrower come in against seven lefties in their lineup.”
Mason Templet scored Joey Butler on a single in the eighth to round out the Rivets’ runs for the day. Templet and Mascarella were the only two Rivets to have multiple RBIs, and every single Rivet in the starting lineup was able to reach base.
With the win, the Rivets clinch the season series against the Bullfrogs. After the sweep, the Screws will be back home tomorrow as they battle the Lakeshore Chinooks (10-16) on Halfway to Christmas night at Rivets Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 PM.
The Rockford Rivets are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Now in its 25th anniversary season, 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, more than 190 former Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist (CHC) and Brandon Crawford (SFG) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (BOS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET) and Curtis Granderson (TOR). 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.
