Wisconsin Rapids scores early, holds off late rally against Kokomo

With a 7-3 win over the Kokomo Jackrabbits (2-4) Monday night, the Wisconsin Rapids Rafters (4-2) field manager Craig Noto reached 200 Northwoods League wins in his fifth season with the team.

The Rafters scored early and often and staved off a late rally to hold on for the win and move into a tie for first place in the Great Lakes West Division with the Fond du Lac Dock Spiders.

Osvaldo Tovalin drove in a run in the first inning to put the Rafters up 1-0. Wisconsin Rapids added four more runs later in the fourth, including RBIs by Matt Oldham and Richie Schiekofer. Leading 5-0, the Rafters added a pair of runs an inning later. Edarian Williams hit an RBI double and Oldham added his second RBI in the inning.

Kokomo threatened with three runs over the seventh and eighth innings, but Cody Turner pitched a clean eighth inning to close out the game for the Rafters. Wisconsin Rapids starter Nathan Hemmerling threw six shutout innings, striking out two batters and giving up just three hits. Kokomo starter Blaine Traxel is credited with the loss.

The Rafters travel back to Fond du Lac for game one of a two-game series on Tuesday. The team then returns home Wednesday to close the series with the Dock Spiders at Historic Witter Field for Quality Feed and Seed Bark in the Park Night.

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.

###

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.