Rafters Hit the Road to Green Bay

Wisconsin Rapids finished home stand 3-0

 

Wisconsin Rapids, Wis. Wisconsin Rapids (28-9) heads to Green Bay (12-24) and Joannes Stadium on Thursday after defeating the Bullfrogs, 5-4, on Wednesday to start the second half of the season. 

 

The Rafters had difficulty figuring out Bullfrog starter Connor Wollersheim, but jumped on the bullpen after Wollersheim hit the 110-pitch limit in the middle of the sixth. Jake Guenther cut the lead with a single to centerfield, but Wisconsin Rapids stranded the bases loaded, trailing 4-2 after six.

 

A shift of momentum took place over the course of the seventh inning from Witter Field. Green Bay loaded the bases to begin the seventh and Cameron Busby entered the game in the jam. Busby struck out Mikey Filia for the first out, and induced an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play to escape the threat. The Rafters bats followed up by tying the game, scoring two runs on one hit in the frame. Wyatt Mascarella drove in a run on a double down the right field line and came around to score the second run of the inning on an error to tie the game.

 

The go-ahead run stood at third base with one out in the eighth and Bryson Stott entered the batter’s box with a chance to give Wisconsin Rapids its first lead of the night. A deep fly ball to center was all that was needed to score Guenther from third and the sacrifice fly gave the Rafters a 5-4 lead into the ninth. Layne Henderson entered the game in the ninth, walking the first two batters he faced. Henderson then buckled down, striking out the side for his seventh save in as many tries this season.

 

Rapids now has a 5-0 record against Green Bay this season after the win, including 2-0 on the road.

 

On the mound tonight for the Rafters is the newest member of the pitching staff. Josh Aguilar makes his first start of the season for the Rafters. The right-hander recently completed his sophomore season at Citrus College in California. During his freshman season in 2016, Aguilar pitched in 17 games out of the bullpen, holding a 1-0 record with two saves and a 1.30 ERA.

 

Today marks the first of a five-game road trip away from Witter Field over the course of the next five days. Wisconsin Rapids travels to Lakeshore and Kenosha for a pair of two game sets after the Green Bay game. Thursday’s game in Green Bay can be heard 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.