Rapids hopes to bounce back in decisive road playoff game at Madison

Looking to keep their season alive, the Great Lakes West Division second-half champions Wisconsin Rapids Rafters (0-1) take on the Madison Mallards (1-0) in game two of a best-of-three playoff series.

In game one, the Rafters played tough with the Mallards and took a 1-1 tie into the seventh inning. A big seventh for Madison put them on top and they hung on to win 9-2. Cal Djuraskovic gave up just one run over 5.1 innings as the starter and Hayden Petrovick gets the loss in relief.

Gareth Stroh is expected to start for Wisconsin Rapids, leading the team with a 7-1 record this season. The lefty from Nebraska has a 1.60 ERA and 57 strikeouts through 10 starts. The Rafters can force a winner-take-all game three at Historic Witter Field Wednesday with a win tonight.

The Rafters finished the regular season with the second-best overall record in the league at 46-26. Wisconsin Rapids closed the regular season with a sweep of the Lakeshore Chinooks to win the Great Lakes West Division in the second half.

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.