Wisconsin Rapids Looks for Series Sweep in Lakeshore

Rafters attempt to start the season 5-1 with a win against the Chinooks

Wisconsin Rapids, Wis. – On its first road series of the season, Wisconsin Rapids attempts to sweep the series against Lakeshore on Sunday evening.

The series started Saturday night with late inning excitement and the Rafters stealing the show in the eighth inning. Jake Guenther singled in a pinch-hit at-bat to lead off the inning.

Shaq Robinson followed Guenther with a triple in the right-center gap to score Guenther and tie the game. With Robinson on third and Nick Owens at the plate, the full count pitch from Brenden McGuigan got away from Chinooks catcher Justin Bardwell, scoring Robinson from third and giving Wisconsin Rapids its first lead of the game.

Christian Jones then did what he has done the last three games, belt a home run to give the Rafters a 7-2 lead they held on to the rest of the way.

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 after J.P. Stevenson went six strong innings in the start, giving up two runs, both in the first inning on a home run.

The Rafters send Tevita Gerber from UNLV to the mound on Sunday evening. The lefty was a main piece of the Rebels starting rotation, tossing 62 innings in 21 appearances, including seven starts. The sophomore struck out 31 batters. As a pitching staff, Wisconsin Rapids owns a 2.40 ERA, which is third best in the Northwoods League.  

Nick Owens paces the Rafters offense with a .462 batting average five games into the season. Three players are tied with five runs batted in this year, as Owens, Jones, and Mitch Mallek have all reached the total. Lakeshore leads the league in team hitting at .400 as a unit.

First pitch is slated for 5:05 pm at Kapco Park. 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.