Rafters sign a NIU Husky and a Southwestern College Jaguar to 2018 squad

Today the Rafters announced the signing of infielder Tommy Szczasny from Northern Illinois University and infielder Victor Carlino from Southwestern College.

Tommy Sczcasny

Victor Carlino

Tommy Szczasny is a 5-foot-10, 185-pound sophomore infielder who plays shortstop this season for Northern Illinois. During his freshman year, the native of Tinley Park, Illinois played at third base for the Huskies. This season, the left-handed batter has a slash line of .262/.336/.330. to go with 44 hits, 10 doubles, 3 home runs, 13 runs scored, 17 RBIs, and 39 walks. At end of his freshman campaign, Szczasny was batting .262 with three home runs and 17 RBIs. He also had the second best slugging percentage on the team at .387. Coming out of high school, Szazasny was tabbed as the 4^th best third base prospect coming out of Illinois according to Perfect Game and Prep Baseball Report.

Victor Carlino is playing in his sophomore campaign with Southwestern College. Carlino will be attending Long Beach State to play baseball. The 5-foot-11, 170-pound lefty bat is batting .276/.357/.486 through 38 games to go with 43 hits, 18 extra-base hits including nine doubles, six triples and three homers, 25 RBIs, 34 runs scored and 15 walks. In his freshman season, the Lakeside, CA native had .237 average, 22 hits, scored 13 times, eight doubles, two triples, a home run and batted in 13. Carlino played two varsity seasons for El Capitan High School under head coach Clayton Curo.

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

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The Wisconsin Rapids 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, 190 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.