Tim Hackett, Broadcasting Intern
Mangrum Homers Twice, but Woodchucks Fall to Rivets 11-2
Rockford, Ill.- Stevie Mangrum hit two solo home runs, but it was not enough as the Wisconsin Woodchucks (1-3) were handled for the second consecutive night by the Rockford Rivets (2-2) 11-2 at Rivets Stadium.
Mangrum got hot early, absolutely demolishing a pitch from starter Jeffrey Barton and depositing it over the high wall in right-center field to give the Woodchucks a 1-0 lead. Rockford levelled the score with a sacrifice fly in the second, but soon, Mangrum was at the dish once again.
The second verse was the same as the first. Mangrum took the first pitch he saw and smacked one down the left field line for his second solo homer of the evening to restore a 2-1 Wisconsin advantage.
From there, however, it was all Rivets. Bren Spillane led off the third with a single, and Cal Aldridge followed with a walk. Both would score on separate RBI groundouts in the frame to give the Rivets a 3-2 lead.
Rockford tacked on two more in the fourth off of reliever Payton Coffman. Ryan Hutchinson led off with a double and eventually scored on an error. Later, Aldridge singled and scored on a double by Hunter Feduccia for a 5-2 Rockford lead.
The Rivets didn’t stop there. With two outs in the sixth, Anthony Forte singled home Keith Kerrigan to make it 6-2.
But the real damage was done in the eighth. Lenny Gwizdala got the first two outs of the frame, but an error allowed the inning to continue, and Rockford made the Chucks pay, scoring five unearned runs to blow the game open.
Both Nate Montgomery and Bren Spillane tallied three hits and drove in two runs for the home team, and Barton picked up his first win of the year with five solid innings of work. Eli Baez worked the first three innings for the Woodchucks, giving up only one earned run, but was saddled with his first loss.
The Woodchucks will look to feed off some home cooking tomorrow night as they return to Wausau to face off against the Fond Du Lac Dock Spiders at Athletic Park.
Tickets are available for all Woodchucks home games and the 2017 Northwoods League Home Run Derby and All-Star online at woodchucks.com and by calling 715.845.5055 during normal business hours.
