Wisconsin Rapids defends early lead and hangs on to defeat Rockford

The Wisconsin Rapids Rafters (6-3) scored early and held off the Rockford Rivets (2-7) for a 4-1 victory in game one Thursday night.

The Rafters scored all four runs in the first inning, starting with an RBI single by Osvaldo Tovalin. Edarian Williams doubled to bring in a run and Peter Matt notched another RBI single for the Rafters. Matt Oldham capped the inning with a sacrifice fly to put the Rafters up 4-0.

Andrew Wilhite put Rockford on the board in the fifth inning with an RBI single against Jack Sinclair. Hayden Petrovick replaced Sinclair and earned the win in 2.2 innings of work. Cal Djuraskovic and Brayden Bonner each pitched an inning to seal the win.

Bonner gets the save and Rockford’s Hunter Keim gets the loss. Wisconsin Rapids improves to 6-3 and is now tied with the Green Bay Booyah atop the Great Lakes West Division.

The Rafters wrap up the series and the homestand on Friday at Historic Witter Field, featuring a Dustin Woodcock “Greatest Rafter of All Time” bobblehead giveaway presented by Aspirus Riverview Hospital and Clinics.

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.