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Published On: July 1st, 2019

FOND DU LAC, WI – The Woodchucks wasted no time getting to scoring. Brandon Seltzer led things off with a single. He stole second base, and Adam Frank singled to bring him in. Byron Murray hit a triple to bring in Frank, and a Santino Miozzi ground out brought in Murray. The first three hitters to take the plate for the Chucks scored. Zach Klapak drew a walk, and T.J. Reeves singled to put two men on. Both runners were able to advance on some wild pitches, with Klapak scoring on a passed ball. Cameron Swanger got on base and stole second, which allowed Reeves to go home from 3rd. A Javier Rosario sacrifice fly scored Swanger and the Chucks were off to a 6-0 lead.

 

Starting pitcher Robert Wegielnik got himself into some trouble in the bottom half of the 1st, loading the bases with only one out. Tate Kolwyck singled to bring home Andrew Bullock, and a ground out by Kellen Sarver scored Aaron Anderson to make it a 6-2 game going into the 2nd inning.

 

The Dock Spiders got two more runs in the bottom of the 3rd inning when Andrew Bullock hit a two-run home run with two outs in the inning to make the score 6-4. The Chucks went into the 3rd inning up by two.

 

Fond Du Lac made it even closer in the bottom of the 3rd, when Luke Robinson hit a sacrifice fly with the bases loaded to bring in Zeb Adreon. Santino Miozzi later threw out a runner trying to steal second base and sent us to the 4th inning with the Woodchucks up 6-5.

 

The Chucks got back to scoring in the 4th. Adam Frank led off the inning with a walk, followed by a Byron Murray double. Santino Miozzi got another RBI via a ground out that brought home Frank to make the score 7-5. Zach Klapak then hit a sacrifice fly to bring in Murray, making it 8-5.

 

The Dock Spiders exploded in the bottom of the 5th, Jose Varela came into the game and gave up two doubles, three singles and a walk, which Fond Du Lac used to plate five runs in the inning to take a 10-8 lead.

 

But the Woodchucks answered immediately. Byron Murray and Zach Klapak walked in the top of the 6th, and a TJ Reeves double brought home Murray to pull the Chucks within one. With both Klapak and Reeves in scoring position, Javier Rosario hit a single to bring both in and give Wisconsin the lead 11-10.

 

But Fondy was right back with some more runs. Nolan Lebamoff walked the bases loaded and then balked to surrender a run. Cam McMillan then grounded out to score another, and Charlie Maxwell added a single to give the Dock Spiders three runs in the inning. Going into the 7th, the Chucks were down 13-11.

 

Suddenly, things quieted down, the Woodchucks were retired 1-2-3 in the 7th and 8th innings, and Nolan Lebamoff bounced back to keep the Dock Spiders scoreless. The Chucks came up to bat in the top of the 9th trailing 13-11, but couldn’t get anything done. They fall to 17-18 on the season, the first time they’ve been under .500 all year.

 

Top Performers

 

Byron Murray had a triple and a double, and also scored three runs while driving in two.

 

Javier Rosario reached base three times and had three RBIs, the last of which gave the Woodchucks the lead in the 6th inning. 

 

Next Up

 

The Woodchucks will return home tomorrow on Tuesday, July 2nd to play the Fond du Lac Dock Spiders at 6:35 PM. It will be Wisconsin Special Night. Beer, brats, and cheese curds will be available for just $2.00! Athletic Park gates will open at 5:35 p.m. The Woodchucks will then travel to Wisconsin Rapids for a two-game series against the Rapids on Wednesday and Thursday before returning home on Friday. For tickets, call us at 715.845.5055, stop by our front office, or visit woodchucks.com.

 

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The Wisconsin Woodchucks are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. The 25-year old summer collegiate league is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 22 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, over 200 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.woodchucks.com or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play and set the Woodchucks as your favorite team.