(Pictured: Jake Johansmeier (Eastern Illinois), new single season wins leader.)

Franchise Highs For Wins and Single Game Attendance Among Highlights

 

Wisconsin Rapids, Wis. – Following a season in which the franchise had seen more roster turnover than in any previous year, the Rafters looked to find stability and a fresh start with the hire of Craig Noto as the fifth manager in team history. Noto brought 22 years of coaching experience at the youth, high school, and Division 1 level. Off the field, the Rafters once again introduced a one-of-a-kind stadium seating venue through a partnership with the Stevens Point Brewery. The Point Craft River featured the first ever water powered bar that delivered canned beer to fans sitting at the bar. Located down the third base line it quickly became a fan favorite.

 

First Half (15-17)
In what would become a theme during the first half of the 2015 season, rain forced the Rafters to cancel their game on opening night, forcing a doubleheader with the Wisconsin Woodchucks on May 27th. The Rafters won their opening game for the first time in franchise history when they defeated the Woodchucks by a score of 13-4, but the rain sprung up again and forced the night cap of the doubleheader to be moved to a later date. The Rafters played a number of close games during the first half of the season, using both strong offense and solid pitching to keep them within striking distance of each team they played.

As mentioned previously, mother nature was not the most kind to the Rafters, especially when trying play at historic Witter Field. All together the team was forced to postpone or cancel five home games, making it difficult to take advantage of the great home field advantage of the fans in Wisconsin Rapids provide. While the team never endured any extended losing streaks, they were unable to put together any long winning ones either and finished the first half six game back of first place in the South Division with a record of 15-17.

All Star Break
The Northwoods League All Star Game returned to historic Witter Field in Wisconsin Rapids, to host the game for the first time since 2011. In front of a tremendous crowd of 2,006, the South Division All-Stars defeated the North Division All-Stars by a score of 3-1.

For the second consecutive year the Rafters had two players selected to represent the South Division: Left-handed pitcher Jack Riley (UCONN) and 3rd baseman Brock Carpenter (Seattle). Carpenter made the start at 3rd base for the South Division and went 0-2 at the plate. Riley’s appearance was a very quick one as he pitched just 1/3 of an inning and recorded the out on just one pitch.

Second Half (18-18)
The seesaw season continued in the second half of the season with the Rafters losing their first three games, only to respond with a four game winning streak. Despite injury bug hitting the Rafters a bit during the second half of the season, they continued to play close games through the final weekend of the season. Thursday, August 6th was an historic day for the Rafters franchise as 2,500 fans packed Witter Field to mark the largest single game crowd in team history, and with the team defeating the Thunder Bay Border Cats 2-1, tied the single season high mark for wins in a season. The team finished the season with a record of 33-35, setting a new franchise record for wins in a season.

The win set the stage for the final weekend series against the Green Bay Bullfrogs, needing to win just one of the two games to secure a new record. Not only did the Rafters get the win by a score of 6-4 on Saturday, August 8th, they saved the biggest fireworks of the season for their season finale. Trailing 7-3 in the bottom of the 8th inning, the Rafters offense exploded for 5 runs to take an 8-7 lead, sending the 1,945 cranberry crazies in attendance into a frenzy. Justin Kelly (UC Santa Barbara), who had been playing left field the entire game due to the roster being very thin, moved to the mound and threw a scoreless 9th inning the record the save.

Postseason All Stars
Wisconsin Rapids left handed pitcher Jack Riley was the only Rafters player named to the Northwoods League Postseason All -Star team.

Riley was a strong, consistent presence in the Rafters rotation during the 2015 season. Finishing the season with a 5-1 record, Riley gave his team a chance to win in each of his starts, with his only loss coming in a game in which he went only gave up two earned runs.

Statistical Notes
The 2015 season was overall a record breaking year for the Rafters franchise, setting new marks in single game attendance (2,500) and wins in a season (33).

Individually, Jake Sandlin (Southern Miss) had a strong year at the plate and set a new record for doubles in a season with 22. This would break the record set during the 2014 season by Keelin Rasch (Lousiana Monroe) at 19. Sandlin also led the team in hits (70), and RBIs (36).

On the pitching side, right-hander Jake Johansmeier (Eastern Illinois) set a new mark for wins with 7. Working out of both the bullpen and the starting rotation, Johansmeier made his second season in Wisconsin Rapids one to remember. Saving his best work for his last two starts, he went eight innings against the Green Bay Bullfrogs while giving up just one earned run, scattering five hits and striking out five on July 28th. He followed that up with a complete game (7 innings) shutout of the Wisconsin Woodchucks on August 3rd. He finished the year with a 7-1 record, 3.01 ERA and 40 strikeouts in 62.2 innings of work.

Team Leaders

Notable Hitting Leaders:
Ernie Clement (Virginia): .311 AVG, 41 hits, 5 2B, 11 RBIs, 17 SB
Brock Carpenter (Seattle): .307 AVG, 51 hits, 10 2B, 4 HR, 31 RBIs
Zack Domingues (Long Beach State): .296 AVG, 69 hits, 8 2B, 25 RBIs, 54 BB
Jake Sandlin (Southern Miss): .294 AVG, 70 hits, 22 2B, 5 HR, 36 RBIs
Ryan Cleveland (Georgia Southern): .236 AVG, 14 2B, 9 HR, 31 RBIs, 34 runs

Notable Pitching Leaders:
Jack Riley (UCONN): 5-1, 3.21 ERA, 38 SO, 56 IP,
Jake Johansmeier (Eastern Illinois): 7-1, 3.00 ERA, 40 SO, 62.2 IP
Jay Peters (UW-Milwaukee): 4-2, 3.44 ERA, 39 SO, 31.1 IP
Dmitry Shtykher (Russia): 1-0, 3.37 ERA, 18 SO, 29.1 IP, 1 SV
James Davitt (Bryant): 2-1, 3.61 ERA, 36 SO, 32.1 IP, 5 SV

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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 (KC). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League Website.  For more information, visit www.raftersbaseball.com.