Rafters Travel to Wausau to Take on the Woodchucks

A chance to win five in a row on the line for the Rafters

Wisconsin Rapids, Wis. –  On the road Tuesday night with a chance to win five straight, the Wisconsin Rapids Rafters (6-1) head to Wausau to face the Wisconsin Woodchucks (2-5) from Athletic Park.

The two teams squared up Monday night in a pitcher’s dual won by Rafters starter Jack Eagan (2-0). Eagan gave up one run, a solo home-run in the top of the second inning to Chad Fleischman, and settled into a groove to throw six innings of one run baseball to pick up his second win. The Rafters Opening Day starter got help from his offense at the right time, with Wisconsin Rapids putting a run apiece in the fifth and six innings.

In the fifth, Mitch Mallek reached base on a fielder’s choice, bring Nick Owens to the plate. Mallek advanced to second on a wild pitch before Owens drove a single to right to plate Mallek to tie the game 1-1. Jake Guenther notched his second base hit of the night in the bottom of the six to drive in Matt Schmidt to give the Rafters the lead they would not give up.

Slated to take the hill for Wisconsin Rapids is Quinn DiPasquale, making his second start. The right-hander has one start this year against the Kenosha Kingfish in the second game of the year. The junior went four innings while giving up one earned run with five strikeouts. The Rafters offense is led by Guenther and his .417 batting average with a team-high 10 hits on the year.  

Wisconsin Rapids is tied for the best record in the league and the south division with the Battle Creek Bombers, who the Rafters will face later this month in Battle Creek. The Bombers are currently on a six-game winning streak. Both teams have a two-game lead on the third place Kingfish.

Full coverage of tonight’s game starts at 6:20 pm on AM 1320 WFHR and WFHR.com, the Rafters Radio Network. First pitch is 6:35 pm at Athletic Park.

                     ###

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.