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Woodchucks held to five hits and two runs in Rafters 33rd win of the year.
Wisconsin Rapids, Wis. – The Wisconsin Rapids Rafters improved to a pod-best 33-11 with an electric 3-2 win over the Wisconsin Woodchucks (14-31) at Athletic Park at Tuesday. Brayden Bonner earned his league-best seventh save, stranding the tying and winning runs on base in the bottom of the ninth, silencing a Wisconsin rally.
Pitchers dominated Tuesday’s game until the ninth. In a bullpen game for Wisconsin Rapids, Gabe Levy, Jimmy Borzone and Ethan Peters combined to shutout the Woodchucks for eight innings, striking out eight Woodchucks and allowing just two hits. Gabe Levy led the way for the Rafters in strikeouts with four over 2.2 innings.
Jace Baumann, the Woodchucks starting pitcher, pitched seven strong innings versus the Rafters division-best offense. The only run off the Mosinee native came in the fourth. Jason DiCochea, in another multi-hit game, singled sharply to center. Hank Zeisler doubled down the left field three pitches later, moving DiCochea down to third base. With one out in the inning and the bases loaded, Jacob Hinderleider lifted a flyball to right field, deep enough to score DiCochea for the game’s first run on a sacrifice fly.
The game was 1-0 until the ninth, when the Rafters received some help to get insurance runs. Hank Zeisler reached on an error by the second baseman to lead off the ninth. Kyle Teel walked, moving the Zeisler to second. Jacob Hinderleider came to the plate with another runner in scoring position, and drove him in. Hinderleider singled through the left side of the infielder scoring Zeisler for his second RBI of the night. The Rafters would get an important third run on a wild pitch to take a 3-0 lead into the bottom of the ninth.
The Woodchucks then put up a comeback in the ninth, scoring two. Bonner recorded his eighteenth save of his Rafters career, inducing a foul popout by Isaiah Mirabal to end the game. 18 saves ties the Rafters career saves record, set by Layne Henderson in 2017 and Garrett Schilling in 2016.
The Rafters round out the regular-season with a home-and-home series with second-place Fond du Lac, starting at Herr-Baker Field on Wednesday. First pitch between the Rafters and the Dock Spiders at 6:35pm. Coverage begins at 6:20pm on AM 1320 WFHR.
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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’ 26th 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.
