Loves Park, Il. – After trailing for most of the game, the Rockford Rivets (26-33) used an eighth inning rally to come back and beat Wisconsin Rapids 6-4 on Tuesday night at Rivets Stadium.
Rockford only had to use one hit to spark their four run comeback against the Rafters after being down 4-2 going into the bottom of the eighth inning.
“We found some breaks in that inning to take the lead and I am not going to complain,” Rivet’s Manager Brian Smith said after the game. “We will always take four runs in the eighth inning every time we can get it.”
Left fielder Ryan Cole led off the inning by getting hit by a pitch. The Rafters’ bullpen would then walk four of the next five batters they faced to put the Rivets up 5-4 and leave the bases loaded for second baseman Kian O’Brien, who hit a walk off homer to beat the Rafters on Monday. This time O’Brien singled to right field to push across an insurance run that would put Rockford up 6-4.
Rockford relief pitcher Tanner Propst would then come in for the ninth and close the door on the Rafters by pitching a one, two, three inning to seal the win.
Rockford also had some new faces that made appearances out of the bullpen in Tuesday’s victory. Cole Jepsen and Logan DeWulf pitched for the first time in a Rivets’ uniform and DeWulf managed to pick up the win on the mound.
Since the Northwoods League All-Star break ended, the Rivets have won four of their last six games.
The Rivets will have a double header tomorrow against the Madison Mallards. Game one will be played in Rockford and start at 11 am while game two is set to start at 7:05 pm in Madison.
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.
