Rafters resign Pitcher Mason McReaken and add fellow SIU-Edwardsville teammate Bret Fehr

Current Roster

Today the Rafters announced the return of right-handed pitcher Mason McReaken for the 2018 season. He will be joined by his teammate, outfielder Bret Fehr.

“Mason did a tremendous job out of our bullpen last year and we’re excited to bring him back,” said Rafters GM John Fanta. “Our SIU-Edwardsville players have had a lot of success the last few years, headlined by three-year Rafter Dustin Woodcock, and we look forward to adding a player like Bret Fehr to augment our outfield.”

The Rafters are excited to bring McReaken back. Mason was one of the best arms out of the bullpen as evidenced by his 1.61 ERA in 39 innings pitched in 2017. He also logged 49 strikes compared to just 14 walks. His junior season with the SIU-Edwardsville Cougars was very strong with 47 strike outs in 46.1 innings pitched. In the righty’s 24 appearances, he had 2 wins and 4 loses with a 3.88 ERA. McReaken will be entering his senior year with the Cougars this spring. He is able to take advantage of a new Northwoods League Rule for 2018 that allows teams to sign up to four undrafted pitchers following their senior season. Mason is originally from Centralia, Illinois.

McReaken is not the only Cougar to be making his way north. Teammate outfielder Bret Fehr is also joining the Rafters. Fehr transferred to SIU-Edwardsville from Crowley County Community College and is getting set to play his junior year for the Cougars. At Crowley County, the lefty batted .366 in 62 games in 2017. He was second on the team with 9 home runs and also tallied 16 doubles. Fehr is originally from Manahatten, Kansas where he was a Louisville Slugger High School All American as a senior.

McReaken, Fehr and the rest of the 2018 Wisconsin Rapids Rafters will begin their season on the road against the Madison Mallards on Tuesday, May 29th. The Home Opener is slated for Friday, June 1st against the Wisconsin Woodchucks. The entire 2018 Rafters schedule is available at www.raftersbaseball.com.

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The Rafters are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Entering its 25th anniversary season, the Northwoods 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 185 former Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist (CHC) and Brandon Crawford (SFG) and MLB All-Stars Chris Sale (BOS), Jordan Zimmermann (DET) and Curtis Granderson (TOR). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League portal. For more information, visit www.raftersbaseball.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.