Wisconsin Rapids threatens late, but comes up short in loss to Dock Spiders

The first-place Wisconsin Rapids Rafters (15-9) closed the season series with the Fond du Lac Dock Spiders (12-12) with a 6-4 loss and finished the season with an 8-4 record against Fondy.

After winning game one 15-10 on Saturday, the Rafters rallied late in a Sunday afternoon matchup and could not come back to win. The Rafters still sit in first place in the Great Lakes West Division with 12 games still to play.

Roman Trujillo scored on a passed ball to put Rapids on top in the third, but Fond du Lac answered with a pair of runs in the bottom of that same inning. Trailing 3-1, Jake Dunham pulled the Rafters within one with an RBI single in the sixth.

The Dock Spiders rebuilt their lead to 5-2, but Dunham came up clutch again in the eighth inning, driving in two runs to cut the Dock Spiders’ lead to 5-4. Fond du Lac added an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth, giving them a two-run cushion heading to the ninth.

The Rafters brought the tying run to the plate in the final inning, but could not overcome the deficit and fell 6-4 to split the two-game series. Starter Nathan Hemmerling gets the loss for the Rafters after pitching five innings.

Wisconsin Rapids has their second scheduled off day of the season Monday. When the Rafters return to Historic Witter Field on Tuesday for Mid-State Technical College Turn Back the Clock Night, featuring a Rafters Retro jersey auction to benefit the Mid-State Foundation. Fans are encouraged to wear red.

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.