Wisconsin Rapids kept it close but fall to Madison by two

Wisconsin Rapids, Wis. – The Wisconsin Rapids Rafters (15-19) fell to the Madison Mallards (27-8) by two runs, falling short in a ninth-inning rally. Madison struck first plating two. An RBI single from David Vinsky and a Rafters error allowing two runs to come home for Madison.

The Mallards collected another RBI single in the third, this one from Trevor Boone. The Rafters got on the board in their part of the third as Brody Wofford (UCF) scored on a wild pitch.  A double from Jesse Forestell in the fifth scored one more for the Mallards and a 3-1 lead. The cranberry and gold attempted a rally in the ninth. Wofford reached first on a fielder’s choice and moved to second on a wild pitch. With two outs, Bret Fehr (SIU Edwardsville) brought Wofford home with an RBI single. The Mallards, however, recovered and got Ty Duvall (Vanderbilt) to hit a fly ball to left field to end it.

Charlie Ruegger (1-3, 2.18 ERA) suffered the loss for the Rafters. Ruegger allowed three earned runs but struck out eight batters, just one shy of his season high. Turner French (3-0, 3.72 ERA) was awarded the win for Madison. Jonah Smith earned his second save of the year. The Rafters conclude the home and home with the Mallards tomorrow with a 6:05 pm CT first pitch from Warner Park.

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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.