Rafters pitching leads the way, shutting out Rivets until the ninth.

Wisconsin Rapids, Wis. – The Rafters continued to shoot up the standings and leaderboards on Saturday night, firing zeroes up on the board inning after inning on route to a 3-1 win over the Rockford Rivets. The Rafters swept away the Rivets behind three runs in the fifth.

The Rafters started Spencer Arrighetti, who continued his scoreless streak with three innings pitched. Arrighetti struck out six over his three innings to keep his ERA at zero.

The Rafters and Rivets were matched in a tight pitcher’s duel over the first four innings before Wisconsin Rapids struck first with three runs in the fifth. Hank Zeisler and Cole Bartels reached base in the fifth bringing No. 9 batter Roman Trujillo to the plate. Trujillo singled to right field loading the bases for Richie Schiekofer. Schiekofer sunk a liner in front of the right fielder to score the game’s first run. In the subsequent at-bat to Billy Cook, a run crossed the plate on a wild pitch and another run came when Cook flied out to center, scoring Trujillo on a sac fly.

In relief of Spencer Arrighetti, Gabe Levy earned his first win, allowing just two hits over three scoreless innings. Jack Gonzales threw two scoreless innings and the Rafters went into the ninth up by three. After the Rivets loaded up the bases, Brayden Bonner came on to the mound and was lightning in a bottle, shutting the door with a strikeout and a groundout.

The Rafters improved to 17-7 on the year, four games up in the Wisconsin-Illinois Pod. The Rafters are up by six games in the West Division over the La Crosse Loggers. The Loggers and Rafters meet tomorrow for the first of two in La Crosse.

Coverage of the La Crosse Loggers and the Rafters begins at 4:50pm on AM 1320 WFHR. The Rafters return home on Tuesday, July 28^th to play the Wisconsin Woodchucks at 6:35pm.

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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 proven leader in the development of elite college baseball players. Having completed its’ 26^th season, 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 230 Northwoods League players have advanced to Major League Baseball, including three-time All-Star and 2016 Roberto Clemente Award winner Curtis Granderson, three-time Cy Young Award winner and World Series Champion Max Scherzer (WAS), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist (CHC) and Brandon Crawford (SFG) and World Series Champion Chris Sale (BOS). As well as 2019 Rookie of the Year and Home Run Derby Champion Pete Alonso (NYM) and MLB All-Star Jordan Zimmermann (DET). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League website. 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.