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Sunday loss leaves the Rafters waiting to clinch division
Kalamazoo, MI – Looking to finish a two-game sweep of the Kalamazoo Growlers (19-16) and officially clinch the South Division first half championship, the Wisconsin Rapids Rafters (23-11) were unable to come up with the timely hits necessary in a 4-1 loss. Despite compiling 19 base runners, the Rafters left 14 men on base and were held to only one run.
On the mound for the Rafters was right-hander Eric Ligda (Millersville), who pitched into the sixth inning before eventually taking the loss. Ligda battled through 5 2/3 innings despite struggling to command his pitches with his usual sharpness. In the losing effort, Ligda surrendered four runs (two earned) on seven hits and three walks with four strikeouts.
The Rafters opened the afternoon’s scoring with their only run of the ballgame in the top of the second inning. After Logan Mattix (Georgia College) doubled deep to left field, Ben Fisher (Eastern Kentucky) shot a ground ball back up the box to plate Mattix and put the Rafters in front 1-0. The Rafters would threaten each inning after the second, leaving 14 runners on base and failing to score again, including failing to score with the bases loaded on multiple occasions.
In the fourth inning, Kalamazoo broke into the scoring column with back-to-back home runs. On a 2-0 pitch from Ligda, the right-hander was tagged for a solo home run by Jordan Verdon into the right field short porch. One pitch later, Nick Hutchins added a home run of his own to the left field seats, putting the Growlers in the lead by a count of 2-1.
The score held steady until the bottom of the sixth inning, when the Growlers mounted a two-run rally thanks to a single, two walks, and a pair of errors. Fielding proved to be shaky for the Rafters for a second consecutive ballgame, with Demetrius Sims (Bethune-Cookman) and Ligda each guilty of errors in the sixth. The error by Sims allowed the first of the two runs to score, and a bases-loaded walk to David Hensley plated the second. After six innings, the score sat at 4-1 with the Rafters looking up at Kalamazoo.
In the final three innings of the game, the Rafters would go on to leave a total of six runners on base. With the bases loaded and one out in the top of the ninth inning, a double play ball off the bat of Rob Calabrese (Illinois-Chicago) accounted for the final two outs of the inning and ended the game.
The loss means that the Rafters’ “Magic Number” to clinch the South Division remained at one, meaning that the Rafters could still claim the division title with a Mallard loss or a win of their own in any of the remaining games in the first half. They will be back in action on Monday, with first pitch scheduled for 2:05 p.m. local time (1:05 p.m. CT) against the Battle Creek Bombers.
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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 23rd season of summer collegiate baseball, 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 150 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 (DET), Curtis Granderson (NYM), Lucas Duda (NYM) and Ben Zobrist (CHC). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League portal. For more information, visit www.raftersbaseball.com or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store and set the Rafters as your favorite team.