Late Offense Carries Rafters in Road Win Against Lakeshore

Rafters score six runs in the top of the eighth in late inning explosion

Wisconsin Rapids, Wis. – It took until the sixth inning to score and the eighth to take the lead, but the Wisconsin Rapids Rafters used a late offensive push to win 7-2 against the Lakeshore Chinooks from Kapco Park on Saturday.

The offense started early for Lakeshore in the bottom of the first. Zach Biermann doubled with two outs to set up Jacob Richardson, who drove a ball over the left-center field wall to give the Chinooks a 2-0 early lead. Zach Spears started for the Chinooks and then carried Lakeshore the first five innings without allowing a run.

In the top of the sixth, Dustin Woodcock came up to bat in his first game with the Rafters in 2017. With a runner on second, Woodcock drove a double to left-center to put the Rafters on the board and close the gap 2-1. That was the only run Spears allowed in his seven innings of one-run baseball. The lefty struck out nine.

J.P. Stevenson started on the mound for the Rafters, allowing three hits in six innings. At one point, he retired 13 straight batters to give the Wisconsin Rapids offense a chance to take the lead.

That opportunity came in the top of the eighth for the Rafters when Jake Guenther drove an 0-2 pitch to center field for a single in a pinch-hit at-bat. Shaq Robinson wasted no time following Guenther, lining a triple in the right-center gap to score Guenther to tie the game. With Robinson on third and Nick Owens at the plate, the full count pitch from Brenden McGuigan (0-1) got away from Chinooks catcher Justin Bardwell, scoring Robinson from third and giving Wisconsin Rapids its first lead of the game.

Christian Jones continued his home-run streak in the eighth inning, drilling a three-run blast over the right field wall. Jones has homered in three straight games.  

Raul Rizo (1-0) earned the victory by pitching the seventh and eighth innings for the Rafters, striking out four Chinooks in two scoreless frames. Alex Jackson entered the game in the ninth to secure the 7-2 win.

Wisconsin Rapids and Lakeshore finish the series Sunday at 5:05 pm. Coverage of the game can be found on WFHR 1320 AM or WFHR.com, the Rafters Radio Network at 4:50 pm.            

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The Wisconsin Rapids Rafters are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. The 23-year-old summer collegiate league is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 20 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 170 former Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including two-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champion Ben Zobrist (CHC) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (BOS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET), Curtis Granderson (NYM) and Lucas Duda (NYM).  All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League portal. For more information, visit http://northwoodsleague.com/wisconsin-rapids-rafters/ or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play and set the Rafters as your favorite team.