{"id":21047,"date":"2026-08-05T21:48:40","date_gmt":"2026-08-06T02:48:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/wausau-woodchucks\/?p=21047"},"modified":"2026-08-05T21:48:40","modified_gmt":"2026-08-06T02:48:40","slug":"woodchucks-fall-in-extras-miss-critical-opportunity-in-playoff-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/wausau-woodchucks\/2026\/08\/05\/woodchucks-fall-in-extras-miss-critical-opportunity-in-playoff-race\/","title":{"rendered":"Woodchucks Fall In Extras, Miss Critical Opportunity In Playoff Race"},"content":{"rendered":"

ROCKERS WIN IN 10 AT ATHLETIC PARK, WOODCHUCKS REMAIN A HALF GAME OUT OF PLAYOFF SPOT<\/strong><\/p>\n

WAUSAU, WI- After a Lakeshore loss on Tuesday night in Traverse City, the Woodchucks were handed control of their own destiny in the Great Lakes West playoff race, but could not take advantage, falling 6-5 in 10 innings to the Green Bay Rockers at Athletic Park.<\/p>\n

Ryan Chase (Santa Fe CC\/Kansas) finished 2-4 at the plate, the only Woodchuck batter to register multiple hits in the game. He reached four times, scored once and had an RBI in the defeat. On the mound, the Woodchucks had worthy relief efforts from Will Saxenmeyer (Sacred Heart) and Josh Steger (UW-Stevens Point). Saxenmeyer tossed 2.1 scoreless innings of relief, allowing just three hits in the process, while Steger, despite being tabbed as the losing pitcher, threw three scoreless innings, allowing just one unearned run, no walks, and picking up two strikeouts.<\/p>\n

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

Wausau took the lead at the first time of asking, as Lane Walton (Arkansas State) drove in Keagen Jirschele (South Dakota State) on a one-out RBI groundout. The Rockers responded with a run in the top of the third, and took the lead in the fourth, before the Woodchucks tied it a 2-2 in the bottom half of that frame when Caleb Karll (Montevallo) scored on a wild pitch.<\/p>\n

The Rockers then struck for three runs in the top of the fifth to take their biggest lead of the night, and slowly but surely, the Woodchucks came back. Wausau got a run back in the bottom of the fifth on a RBI fielder\u2019s choice groundout from Bryce Hubbard (Oregon State), and cut the deficit to one in the sixth when Joey McLaughlin (Arkansas State) scored on a Green Bay error.<\/p>\n

In the seventh, the Woodchucks tied it at five. Jackson Petsche (Southeastern CC\/LSU-New Orleans) legged out a leadoff double, and reached third base on the play after a Green Bay throwing error. The next batter, Ryan Chase, brought him in with an RBI single. However, the Woodchucks missed late opportunities to strike. Wausau left the go-ahead run on base in the eighth, the winning run in scoring position in the ninth, and, after the Rockers scored in the tenth to take the lead, the game-tying run was left at second base in the final frame of the night.<\/p>\n

NOTES AND NUMBERS<\/strong><\/p>\n