Three Rafters Selected to Major League Dreams Showcase

Wisconsin Rapids, WI — The Northwoods League has announced the rosters for the 2018 Major League Dreams Showcase, which will be hosted by the Madison Mallards at Warner Park on Tuesday, August 7. The annual Showcase will consist of a double-header featuring the top players from the Northwoods League who were selected by a panel of Major League Baseball Scouts. The players will participate in a day of workouts in front of scouts which will be followed by the double-header.

The first game will start at 4:05 p.m. and will match two teams featuring a mix of North Division players. The players on the visiting team in this game will primarily come from Willmar, St. Cloud, Bismarck, Duluth and Thunder Bay. The home team will be made up of players mainly from Mankato, Rochester, La Crosse, Eau Claire and Waterloo. Former Major League player and coach Al Newman of the St. Cloud Rox will skipper the visiting team while Dale Varsho of the Eau Claire Express will manage the home team.

The home team in game one will feature the current league leader in home runs Kyle MacDonald (Arkansas State). MacDonald was an All-Star this season and has 14 home runs and 65 RBI in 56 games for the Mankato MoonDogs. Justin Slaten (New Mexico) of the Eau Claire Express will also play in this game. Slaten currently leads the league in wins with six, strikeouts with 67 and ERA at 1.18.

The second game will start at 7:35 p.m. and will be played by two teams of South Division players. The visiting team for this game will be made up of players mostly from Rockford, Fond du Lac, Green Bay, Kalamazoo and Battle Creek. The home team will have players from Madison, Lakeshore, Kenosha, Wisconsin Rapids and Wisconsin. Brian Smith of the Rockford Rivets will be the Field Manager for the visiting team. Mallards Field Manager and former MLB catcher, Donnie Scott will be in the dugout for the home team.

The Rafters will be represented by C Ty Duvall (Vanderbilt), RHP Trayson Kubo (Stephen F. Austin) and 1B/DH Jack-Thomas Wold (University of Nevada-Las Vegas). All three were All-Star selections for Wisconsin Rapids as well in 2018. Ty Duvall sports a .314 batting average with 38 hits, nine doubles, and two home runs. Duvall has 23 RBI with 37 walks to 27 strikeouts. The sophomore leads the Rafters with a .478 on-base percentage.

Trayson Kubo leads the Rafters pitching staff in wins with six and in ERA (1.29). Kubo has thrown the most innings as well with 48.2 frames. The Waipahu, HI native recently threw 16.2 scoreless innings across three starts. Kubo has allowed nine runs total with 46 strikeouts.

Jack-Thomas Wold is batting .292 currently with the Rafters and leads the team in hits (63), doubles (15) and RBI (41). The freshman from Henderson, NV has crushed seven home runs for Wisconsin Rapids with a .458 slugging percentage.

Proceeds from the Major League Dreams Showcase will benefit the Northwoods League Foundation. The Northwoods League Foundation is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization that serves as a vehicle to transform a shared passion for baseball into positive change and support for communities. Of the many needs the foundation may address through grants, scholarships or donations, one ongoing focus will be to view its member communities and look upon the baseball programs they have in place with a harmonious goal of making them all finer places to live.

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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.