Rafters edge Chinooks to win Great Lakes West Division

The Wisconsin Rapids Rafters (23-13) topped the Lakeshore Chinooks (16-20) 7-6 to win the second-half Great Lakes West Division Championship and clinch a spot in the Northwoods League Playoffs.

Trailing 1-0 in the second inning, Roman Trujillo and Aidan Huggins drove in runs to put the Rafters on top 2-1. Lakeshore answered with a pair in the bottom of the third, but the Rafters came storming back one inning later.

Wisconsin Rapids posted four runs in the fourth inning to take the lead for good. Noah Thigpen doubled to tie the game and Trujillo and Richie Schiekofer each tallied an RBI single. Anthony Galason capped off the inning with an RBI double to make it 6-3 Rafters.

Huggins scored on a wild pitch in the sixth to add to the Rafters lead and the Chinooks rallied to make it a one-run game heading to the ninth, but Brayden Bonner closed out the game and sealed the big Rafters win.

Izzy Fuentes gets the win with 3.1 innings of relief work, striking out four batters. Brayden Bonner fanned four in 1.2 shutout innings of work out of the bullpen to earn the save. Lakeshore’s Bailey Vuylsteke is credited with the loss.

The Rafters will take on the Madison Mallards at Historic Witter Field at 7:05 p.m. tomorrow for game one of a best-of-three playoff series. Single-game playoff tickets are on sale now along with a $14 ticket special that includes a bleacher ticket and 32-oz. beer.

As the Rafters gear up for a late-season run, you can experience the postseason action firsthand. For more information on playoff ticket offerings visit Raftersbaseball.com, call the Rafthouse at 715-424-5400, or visit 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.