Rafters Head to Madison for the First Time

Wisconsin Rapids looks to bounce back after two losses on Thursday

Wisconsin Rapids, Wis. – For the first time this season, Wisconsin Rapids (23-7) travels to Madison to take on the Mallards (17-13) on Friday from Warner Park. Madison took both games of a Thursday double-header to move to 2-1 against the Rafters this season.

Game one of the double-header went ten innings, with Madison prevailing 4-3. Madison opened the scoring in the first, scoring two runs on three hits. A Jake Snider single and a Doran Turchin double drove in the runs for the Mallards to jump ahead 2-0 early. Jeffery Mitchell Jr. knocked in two runs to lead the visitors who scored two runs in the tenth to win the game. Dom Savino earned the victory for Madison, tossing 3.2 innings of relief, allowing just one hit and striking out three.

Wisconsin Rapids put two on the board, one in the second when Wyatt Mascarella singled in a run and another in the fourth on a Christian Jones solo home-run.

In the second game, the Mallards opened the scoring with a big inning in the fourth, bringing eleven batters to plate and scoring six runs on five hits. The inning was capped off by a Cole Daily two RBI single to vault Madison to a 6-0 lead.

Wisconsin Rapids stormed back to take the lead in the sixth, scoring seven runs to take a 9-6 lead into the final frame. The inning was highlighted by RBI hits from Bryson Stott, Dustin Woodcock, Ryan Stekl, Jake Guenther and Charlie McConnell. The Rafters brought 12 batters to the plate to come back and secure the lead.

Madison brought two runs across on an Angel Camacho double in the seventh with the bases loaded and no outs, but the tying run was gunned down at the plate on a perfect relay from left field. Thomas Smart came through clutch with two outs for the Mallards, driving in the tying run on a single up the middle.

Doran Turchin hit a three-run homer to put Madison up 12-9. The Rafters had the winning run at the plate, but could muster only one run in the eight, falling 12-10 in the second game.

Wisconsin Rapids heads to Madison with the best record in the Northwoods League. After hits in both games of the double-header on Thursday, Guenther is third in batting average in the league, hitting at a .364 clip.

First pitch for Friday is slated for 7:05 pm at Warner Park. Coverage starts at 6:50 pm on AM 1320 WFHR and WFHR.com, the Rafters Radio Network.

 

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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.