{"id":20635,"date":"2026-05-31T18:10:57","date_gmt":"2026-05-31T23:10:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/wausau-woodchucks\/?p=20635"},"modified":"2026-05-31T18:11:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-31T23:11:09","slug":"20635","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/wausau-woodchucks\/2026\/05\/31\/20635\/","title":{"rendered":"Woodchucks Survive 11-Inning Thriller At Green Bay"},"content":{"rendered":"

WOODCHUCKS COME BACK LATE, STAVE OFF ROCKER RALLY TO TAKE SOLE POSSESSION OF FIRST PLACE IN THE DIVISION<\/b><\/p>\n

ASHWAUBENON, WI\u2014 There are crazy games every summer in the Northwoods League, and then there are games like Sunday\u2019s matchup at Capital Credit Union Park, where Wausau won 11-10 in 11 innings.<\/p>\n

Five different Woodchucks had multi-hit games in the win, including two players with home runs in Ryan Chase (Santa Fe CC\/Kansas) and Dylan LaPointe (Mercer). Gaven Obremski (Rock Valley CC\/Western Illinois) had a 2-4 performance, and scored a run.<\/p>\n

Wausau\u2019s pitching did the job in huge spots as well. Brady Wright (Santa Fe CC\/Tampa) worked an excellent 2.1 innings out of the bullpen, recording two strikeouts, while Logan Waldschmidt (New Orleans\/Transfer Portal) threw the final two innings, allowing just two hits and two earned runs, and recording a strikeout.<\/p>\n

THE HIGHLIGHTS<\/b><\/p>\n

Wausau took the lead in the first. Jake Berkland (Minnesota State-Mankato) battled to take a leadoff walk, moved to third base on a single, and then scored after a throwing error from Green Bay. Then Berkland was the architect of the second Woodchuck run, after he brought in Gaven Obremski with a two out RBI single in the fifth.<\/p>\n

Green Bay, however, found a way back. The Rockers found a big inning in the bottom of the fifth, and scored four runs to take the lead. It took Wausau a bit of time to respond, but they did so in a big way in the eighth. Ryan Chase hit his second home run of the season, an opposite field two-run home run that tied the game at 4-4.<\/p>\n

Then, there were big moments late. After the Rockers took the lead in the bottom of the eighth, the Woodchucks rallied in the ninth, with Brayden Mazzacano (Illinois) lining a game-tying base hit up the middle to score Jace Souza (Texas Tech), on his first day as a Woodchuck. Then, in the bottom of the ninth, with the winning run at third base, Nolan McKinstry picked up a massive, inning-ending strikeout to send the game to extras.<\/p>\n

And if things couldn\u2019t get any wilder, both teams scored three runs each in the tenth. Dylan LaPointe (Mercer) hit a go-ahead three run home run for Wausau in the top of the tenth, his second straight game with a long ball. But the Rockers found a way to score three in the bottom half and tie the game after a Woochucks error.<\/p>\n

Wausau responded accordingly in the eleventh. Joey McLaughlin (Arkansas State) brought in the courtesy runner with a go-ahead RBI single, and Dawson Harman (South Carolina\/Transfer Portal) followed it up with a two-RBI double into deep center field. That put the Woodchucks up 11-8.<\/p>\n

Green Bay had one more rally left in the bottom of the eleventh, scoring two more runs to cut the Wausau lead to one. With the tying run in scoring position, Logan Waldschmidt forced the final Rocker hitter to pop out to Jake Berkland, finishing off one of the wildest games of the season.<\/p>\n

NOTES AND NUMBERS\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n