Wisconsin Rapids rides win into opener with Dock Spiders

Fond du Lac, Wis. – Coming off a doubleheader split, the Wisconsin Rapids Rafters (8-8) open the season series with divisional opponent Fond du Lac Dock Spiders (8-8) on the road Wednesday night.

The Rafters built a late 5-0 lead against the Wisconsin Woodchucks in the nightcap of a Tuesday doubleheader and staved off a ninth-inning rally to win 5-2. Jake Dunham went 3-for-5 with five RBIs and now leads the team with 16 RBIs.

Neil Abbatiello is expected to start for the Rafters in his third appearance. The Wagner senior has a 1-0 record and a .90 ERA, striking out 14 batters in 10 innings of work. Connor Cook gets the nod for the Dock Spiders. He has a 1-0 record and a 1.28 ERA through three appearances for Fond du Lac.

The Rafters return to Historic Witter Field for game two Thursday for the Hunger Coalition food sculpture event “United We Can,” sponsored by United Way. These two Great Lakes West Division teams will face off 12 times over the course of the season.

Want to attend a Rafters game this season? Single-game tickets are on sale now. For more information on all Rafters ticket offerings visit Raftersbaseball.com, call the Rafthouse at 715-424-5400, or come visit us over at historic Witter Field. The Rafters ticket office is open from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm, Monday through Friday at Witter Field, 521 Lincoln Street in Wisconsin Rapids.

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The Wisconsin Rapids Rafters are a member of the finest developmental league for elite college baseball players, the Northwoods League. The Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 22 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, over 200 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.