Wisconsin Rapids takes shutout into ninth, beats Fond du Lac

The Wisconsin Rapids Rafters (16-12) rode a strong defensive performance and produced the offense necessary to pick up a 3-1 divisional win over the Fond du Lac Dock Spiders (12-16).

Wisconsin Rapids jumped out to an early lead with a pair of runs in the first inning on RBIs by Davion Downey and Osvaldo Tovalin. Downey scored later on a wild pitch in the fifth inning to extend the Rafters lead to 3-0.

The Rafters took a shutout into the ninth inning and, with two outs and two strikes, gave up a run on a balk. However, Izzy Fuentes got the final strike to earn the save and secure the Rafters win. Starter Nathan Hemmerling gets the win with five shutout innings and five strikeouts.

Cal Djuraskovic pitched two innings in relief for Rapids, striking out three batters. Fond du Lac starter Sam Grace is credited with the loss in four innings of work. The Rafters now hold a 1.5-game lead in second place in the Great Lakes West Division.

The Rafters and Dock Spiders will close the series on Wednesday for Hotel Mead Wrestling Night at Historic Witter Field and a special appearance by WWE Hall of Famer and “The Mouth of the South” Jimmy Hart.

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.