Green Bay steals home in the ninth to take a 2-1 lead.

Wisconsin Rapids, Wis. – The Wisconsin Rapids Rafters lost a pitching duel Tuesday night, falling 2-1 to the Green Bay Bullfrogs. With the Rafters one strike away from getting out of ninth inning, Green Bay center fielder Paul Jacobson stole home on a throw back from the catcher to give Green Bay the 2-1 lead and the eventual win. With the loss, the Rafters fall to 3-4, while the win moves the Bullfrogs to 3-4.

Both starting pitchers were excellent as the Wisconsin Rapids’ Adam Hall (Xavier) threw 6.2 innings of one-run ball, allowing five hits and striking out five. He was, however, outdone by the Bullfrogs’ Garrett Harrison (1-1), who earned the win when he tossed eight innings and struck out eight, surrendering one run on six hits. Jeremy Graf came on for Green Bay in the ninth and threw a clean inning for the save. Nick Nelsen (Iowa Western CC) took the loss for the Rafters.

The Bullfrogs got on the board first, scoring a run in the second inning when Tyler McDowell singled, moved to second on ground out, then scored on a Ryan Donovan single. The Rafters matched the Green Bay run in the fourth. Jake Sandlin (Georgia College) doubled on the first pitch of inning, then scored on a Blake Molitor (Illinois State) single to center.

Ultimately, winning run was scored by Jacobson, who reached on an infield single to shortstop in the ninth. The center fielder stole second to get into scoring position, then moved to third on a ground out. He was the first Bullfrog runner to reach third since Green Bay scored in the second inning. Jacobson then made a heads up play, stealing home on a throw back to the pitcher, giving the Bullfrogs a 2-1 lead.

The Rafters will look back to get back to .500 tomorrow night when they host the Lakeshore Chinooks at Witter Field. First pitch is once again scheduled for 6:35 p.m.

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The Wisconsin Rapids Rafters are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Playing its 22nd season of summer collegiate baseball in 2015, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 18 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, more than 120 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (CWS), Jordan Zimmermann (WAS), Curtis Granderson (NYM), Lucas Duda (NYM) and Ben Zobrist (OAK). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League Website.  For more information, visit www.raftersbaseball.com