Errors Cost Woodchucks in Loss to Rivets

Rockford, Ill.- Thursday night’s ballgame in Rockford was a good one, a true fight to the finish. Friday’s looked like it might be about as entertaining, but three Wisconsin Woodchuck (18-27; 3-7) errors in the middle innings led to seven unearned Rockford Rivet (23-21; 6-4) runs, and the Rivets rolled to an 11-4 win Friday night at Rivets Stadium.

James Davison was perfect in his debut Thursday, and he picked up right where he left off in the first Friday. He walked, stole second and third, and scored on a Brylie Ware sac fly. Rockford answered immediately. Hunter Feduccia walked, got to third on a double, and scored on a Brian Klein sac fly.

The Chucks regained the lead in the third when Stevie Mangrum led off with a walk and scored on a ground-rule double that Tristan Clarke placed down the right-field line. Rockford responded immediately again, loading the bases in the bottom half and scoring when Brett Whelton’s bases-loaded walk forced home Feduccia to level the score at two.

Feduccia remained a thorn in Wisconsin’s side all game long. He doubled home Ryan Hutchinson in the fourth and scored himself on another bases-loaded walk. That’s when the errors started to pile up. Wisconsin only committed three in the game, but they were all costly. Trevor Paradoski hit an infield single in the fifth, got to second on a throwing error, and scored on a Feduccia single.

That made it 5-2, and it was soon a much bigger deficit than that. Rockford loaded the bases with two outs in the sixth against Degan Harte, and he would’ve been out of the inning except Tristan Clarke and Trey Dawson nearly collided in shallow left, and the ball fell out of Clarke’s glove, allowing two runs to score and the inning to continue. Hutchinson’s RBI single scored another one to make it 8-2 Rivets.

Wisconsin pulled one back in the seventh when Ware drove home Davison for the second time, but Rockford was right back at it in the bottom half. Feduccia led off with a double and scored the first of three unearned runs – Harte should’ve been out of the inning again, but Dawson had the ball bounce out of his glove on a chopper to first to prolong the frame.

The Chucks got one back in the ninth when Mangrum singled and Ware picked up his fourth hit of the game to get Mangrum to third. Mangrum then came home on a throw from third baseman Brian Klein that caught Ware in the chest. For a minute, it seemed like the Woodchucks might lose something more than the game, but Ware got up and the Chucks threatened in the ninth but could not claw closer in an 11-4 Rivets win.

Wisconsin will head back into the state of Michigan for its final series before the All-Star break. It will be Korey Rasure vs. Tyler Garam Round Three as the Chucks take on the Battle Creek Bombers, with first pitch at 6:05 CT.

Tickets are on sale to all Wisconsin Woodchucks home games and the 2017 Northwoods League Home Run Derby and All-Star Game, presented by Ascension. Tickets can be purchased online, by calling 715.845.5055 or by stopping by the Woodchucks front office during normal business hours.

Tim Hackett, Broadcasting Intern