Rafters Complete Season Sweep of Kingfish on Sunday
Wisconsin Rapids clinches best overall record in the South with victory and Battle Creek loss
Wisconsin Rapids, Wis. – In the final meeting in the regular season, Wisconsin Rapids (47-18, 20-9) finishes its season series a perfect 8-0 after an 11-1 victory over Kenosha (33-32, 11-19) on Sunday from Witter Field. With the win, the Rafters clinch the best overall record in the South for the season with seven games left.
The Rafters jumped ahead before the rain delay, scoring a run in the top of the first. Bryson Stott doubled and scored with two outs when Ryan Stekl doubled off the wall in center. The rain delay began after the top of the second inning and Rafters starter Jesse Slinger retired all six Kingfish batters he faced.
After preparing the field to play after the one hour forty-nine minute delay, the home Rafters came back ready to hit, scoring four runs in the bottom half of the second. A single, hit by pitch and error on a sacrifice bunt loaded the bases for Jared Nelson who delivered a bloop RBI single. Charlie McConnell drove in a run on a sacrifice groundout before Bryson Stott knocked in two on a single back up the middle to extend the lead to 5-0.
Alex Holderbach hit his second home run in just his third game with the Rafters, blasting a solo shot in the third inning. Holderbach added another RBI in the fourth on a sacrifice fly, part of a three run inning for Wisconsin Rapids. Bryson Stott and Ryan Stekl tallied an RBI each on singles to open the lead to nine runs.
Rapids added two more in the seventh to conclude their scoring on the day. Riley Erickson walked and scored on a sacrifice groundout by Nick Anderson, and McConnell doubled in a run. McConnell scored in the inning on an error to give the Rafters an 11-0 lead after seven.
Kenosha scored their lone run in the eighth inning, taking advantage of a passed ball to break the shutout. Joe Campagna walked to lead off the frame and came around to score.
Josh Aguilar (2-2) earned the win in relief of Jesse Slinger after the delay, tossing five innings of scoreless baseball, striking out five batters. Max Rimac (1-1) surrendered the loss for Kenosha, allowing three earned runs in two innings of relief.
Wisconsin Rapids squares off against Battle Creek in a doubleheader on Monday, with two, seven inning games beginning at 5:05 p.m. It is help the Rafters swat away the Bombers with a Rafters Fly Swatter Giveaway night. Pregame coverage starts at 4:50 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.
