Rafters Head to Battle Creek for Final Michigan Trip

Wisconsin Rapids, Wis. – For the final time this season, Wisconsin Rapids (44-18, 17-9) travels to Michigan to face Battle Creek (37-24, 17-9) on Thursday from C.O Brown Stadium.

The Rafters are 3-1 this year when playing the Bombers, and come off a series-sweeping win against Kalamazoo on Tuesday with a 7-5 victory.

Trailing 2-0, the Rafters answered in the home half of the third when Charlie McConnell singled to lead off the inning, advanced to second on a wild pitch, and scored when the catchers’ attempt to throw him out stealing third skipped away from the third baseman. Ryan Stekl and Dustin Woodcock each drove in a run, with Stekl plating Nick Anderson on a sac fly to left. Woodcock singled to right field to score Bryson Stott, his 100th run batted in during his Rafters career to put the Rafters ahead 3-2.

Reidel continued seeing the ball well against the Rafters, tying the game in the fifth inning with a two-out RBI triple. The Growlers regained the lead in the sixth, with two runs coming across on a single off the bat of Michael Diffley. Orr and Jack Duffy came in to score to put the visitors up 5-3.

Wisconsin Rapids used the long ball to tie the game at five when Stekl and Jake Guenther each hit solo home runs in the seventh and eighth innings, respectively. Scott Kapers knocked in the go-ahead run with a double in the eighth and Stott added an insurance run with an RBI single to give the Rafters a 7-5 lead. Closer Layne Henderson struck out the side for his 16th save on the year.

On the mound for the Rafters Thursday is Isaiah Carranza (5-0). The righty owns a 2.30 ERA on the year in 39 innings with 37 strikouts. In his last start, Carranza tossed a stellar outing against Madison, pitching seven innings. The sophomore gave up one run while striking out five.

Stott continues to lead the Rafters offense this season, batting a team-high .349. On Tuesday, Stott tied the single-season hit record in Rafters history with 84, needing one more to pass the record set by Keelin Rasch in 2014.

Game Notes:

– After an RBI single on Tuesday, Dustin Woodcock is the lone player in Rafters history to record 100 career RBI's.

– Bryson Stott has already broken the record for most runs in a season by a Rafter, but is one hit (84) away from breaking the hits record. He is also five stolen bases from breaking the record of 26 set in a season by Sean Godfrey of Ball State in 2012.

– With ten games left in the regular season, the Rafters play four road games and six games at home.

First pitch in Battle Creek on Thursday is slated for 6:05 p.m. CT. Pregame coverage starts at 5:50 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, 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.raftersbaseball.comor download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play and set the Rafters as your favorite team.