Wisconsin Rapids chases series split with Mallards

The first-place Wisconsin Rapids Rafters (13-8) look to maintain their lead in the Great Lakes West Division in game two against the Madison Mallards (10-11) on Friday.

The Rafters played their first extra-inning game of the season on Thursday, dropping game one against the Mallards 5-4 in 10 innings. Jake Dunham and Osvaldo Tovalin both had home runs for Wisconsin Rapids.

Cal Djuraskovic is projected to start for Wisconsin Rapids. The lefty has a perfect 3-0 record and a 4.50 ERA in nine appearances and two starts this summer. Madison will start all-star pitcher Lowell Schipper, who is 4-2 with a 2.12 ERA.

The Rafters now have a one-game lead on the Lakeshore Chinooks for first place in the division with just 15 games remaining in the regular season. The Rafters and Chinooks will face off four more times this season.

When the Rafters return to Historic Witter Field Saturday, they will face the Fond du Lac Dock Spiders and host a postgame fireworks show presented by McCain Foods. It will be game one of a two-game set with Fond du Lac.

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.