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Wisconsin Rapids got the better of Fond du Lac by one run in a closely contested game
Wisconsin Rapids, Wis. – After winning 13-0 last night, things were a bit tougher on Thursday night for the Wisconsin Rapids Rafters as they faced the Fond du Lac Dock Spiders at Herr-Baker Field. The Rafters and Dock Spiders were tied at two after two innings before the cranberry and gold broke the stalemate in the seventh and held on for the 3-2 win.
Wisconsin Rapids struck first in the first. With two outs on the board, the Rafters loaded the bases on Fond du Lac starter Ben Probst. Ty Duvall (Vanderbilt) worked a walked, Mitch Mallek (St. Cloud State) collected an infield hit and Jake Dunham (Northern Illinois) was also walked to load the bases with Rafters. Jack-Thomas Wold (UNLV) smacked a base hit up the middle scoring Duvall and Mallek to give the Rafters a 2-0 lead.
The Dock Spiders scored two runs of their own in the second to tie things up. RBI singles from Alex Henwood and Tyler Wardwell brought in the Dock Spider runs. Both teams’ bats were quiet for the next four innings before the Rafters broke through in the seventh.
Jordan Wiley (Kalamazoo College) started the seventh with a single. Steven Rivas (Long Beach State) moved Wiley over to second on a sacrifice. Wiley advanced to third on an error from Mitch Boe allowing Ethan Stringer (Louisville) to reach first. Duvall would be the difference maker on an RBI base hit to score Wiley and make it 3-2 Wisconsin Rapids.
The Rafters held on to the lead as Mason McReaken shut the door in the ninth to earn his second save of 2018. Chandler Greenfield (2-0, 1,84 ERA) earned the win with three scoreless innings of relief as starter Jake Cook (Birmingham Southern) went the first five frames but left when the game was still tied.
Dock Spiders reliever Austin Wagner (2-1, 2.03 ERA) was given the loss allowing the go-ahead run to score in the seventh.
The Wisconsin Rapids Rafters improve to 13-9 while the Fond du Lac Dock Spiders fall to 13-9. The two-game series concludes tomorrow evening at Herr-Baker Field with a 6:35 pm CT first pitch.
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The Wisconsin Rapids Rafters are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. Now in 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.