Loves Park, Il. – The Rockford Rivets (25-33) beat the Wisconsin Rapids Rafters at Rivets Stadium 3-2 after Kian O’Brien smoked a ball over the left field wall to end the game in extra innings and give the Rivets the win.
“Kian [O’Brien] came up at a good time and saw one he liked,” Rivet’s Manager Brian Smith said. “He then deposited it over the wall in left field.”
O’Brien just missed a homer earlier in the game when he hit an RBI triple off of the left field wall in the fourth inning to put Rockford ahead 2-1.
Wisconsin Rapids then tied the game in the sixth inning to even the score at 2-2 and with both teams struggling to get a rally going, it appeared that the game would last longer than just 12 innings.
O’Brien would then end the game in one swing in the bottom of inning number 12 to win it for Rockford.
The Kent State product finished the game with four hits and two RBI’s on the night. He also did his part on the field by playing three different positions throughout the game including first base, second base and right field.
“All day he had a great approach at the plate,” Smith said. “He got the last two days off and today he made up for those two days.”
Cade Bunnell picked up the win on the mound for Rockford after pitching 2.1 innings in relief. He, Anthony Holubecki and Nathan Schneiderman all came in after starter Alex Bacevicius went 5.0 innings while allowing just one earned run.
Rockford will finish their series with the Rafters tomorrow at 6:35 pm at Rivets Stadium in Loves Park.
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.
