Rafters and Rivets Battle for Second Half South Lead 

Winner moves into first place lead of South’s second half 

 

Wisconsin Rapids, Wis. – With a first place lead in the South Division’s second half of the season on the line today, Wisconsin Rapids (38-14, 11-5) finishes its six-game road trip in Rockford (28-22, 11-5) from Loves Park on Tuesday. 

 

The Rivets defeated the Rafters 12-4 on Monday to open the series. It snapped the Rafters five-game win streak, and a 4-0 start to the six day road trip. Wisconsin Rapids is 3-2 this year against Rockford. 

 

Charlie McConnell led off the game for the Rafters with a single to left while Ryan Stekl drew a four-pitch walk. Bryson Stott drilled an RBI double to right to put the Rafters in front 1-0. Jacson McGowan laced the first pitch he saw as the next batter to center to score Stekl, and Stott scored on a passed ball to give the Rafters a 3-0 after a half inning. 

 

Quickly striking in the bottom of the second, the Rivets scored three runs to tie the game. Brian Klein led off with a single while Patrick Loeffler walked. Bryan Martinez, Logan Michaels, and Trevor Peradoski hit three consecutive RBI base hits to tie the game at 3-3. 

 

Rockford took its first lead of the game as Zach Watson (LSU) drove a double to right with one out. Ryan Hutchinson (Illinois State) flared a single to right to score Watson and give the Rivets a 4-3 lead after three. Watson hit a grand slam in the fourth to give the Rivets an 8-3 lead. Dustin Woodcock led off the sixth with a walk for the Rafters, and came around to score on an RBI groundout off the bat of McGowan to make the score 8-4. 

 

Rockford added to its lead in the bottom of the inning when the Rivets drew three straight walks with one out. Watson drove a two-RBI double to left, while Brian Klein and Ryan Hutchinson plated a run each with singles to give the Rivets a 12-4 lead, which they held the rest of the day. 

 

For the first time this season, George Castillo receives the start for the Rafters. The right-hander has one appearance on the season, pitching out of the bullpen on Saturday for one inning. Castillo worked a 1-2-3 eighth inning in a Rafters 12-0 win against Kenosha. The Hope International junior went 8-4 with a 4.84 ERA this past spring, pitching in a team high 93 innings. Castillo struck out 81 hitters and walked just 27. 

 

On the mound for Rockford is right-hander Max Bain. The Northwoods University freshman has one appearance this season, coming out of the Rivets bullpen in a 10-7 win on July 20th vs. Kalamazoo. Bain pitched three innings and gave up one earned run while striking out three and walking two. 

 

First pitch is set for 6:35 p.m. at Rivets Stadium in the final game of the series on Tuesday to complete the six-game road trip, with pregame coverage starting at 6:20 p.m. 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 180 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 www.greenbaybullfrogs.com 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.