WASSAU, Wis. – It is always fun to win, but it is always more fun to dominate.  The Rafters dominated the Wausau Woodchucks tonight, as the Rats moved to 2-0 in the second half with their 11-5 win in Wausau.  

The Rats bats started early tonight, as they are now 18-1 when scoring first.  They brought two across in the top of the first via a pair of RBI doubles off the bats of Garrett Broussard and Harry Owen to take a 2-0 lead.  Rafters starter threw a 1-2-3 home half of the first inning, as Seth Stroh recorded his first outfield assist of the night gunning down Hunter Dorraugh at second base.  The Rats added one more in the top half of the second from a double play in which Stroh came home to score from third to make it a 3-0 game.  Kiernan retired the side in order again in the home half of the second. 

Wisconsin Rapids added another pair of runs in the top of third from a two-run bomb off the bat of Nate Nankil.  This was Nankil’s first hit and homer in the Northwoods League.  The Woodchucks scored their first two runs of the night in the bottom of the third to make it a 5-2 game.  Kiernan exited the game after three innings of giving up two runs on four hits, one walk, and struck out three. 

The Rafters had another offensive outburst in the top half of the fourth.  With the bases loaded and two outs, a Wausau wild pitch brought home two runs to give the Rafters their five run lead back, 7-2.  In the next at-bat, Harry Owen hit a two-run double to give the Rats a 9-2 lead.  Jacob James entered the game for the Rafters to pitch in the bottom half of the fourth, and he retired the side in order 1-2-3. 

James threw three more scoreless innings and left the game after the seventh.  He gave up no runs, no hits, and allowed four walks.  Ben Adams threw a scoreless bottom half of the eighth inning for the Rafters.  Then, in the top of the ninth after a Nate Nankil leadoff walk, Seth Stroh crushed a baseball over the trees in dead center for his fifth homer of the season to make it an 11-2 game.  Malakai Vetock came on to shut down the Woodchucks in the home half of the ninth.  However, after two Woodchucks reached with one out, a three-run bomb from Collin Reuter made it an 11-5 game.  After a two-out single from Brent Widder to extend the game, Nik Levensteins came up for the Woodchucks.  He lined a ball into the right field corner and tried to extend his single into a double.  However, Seth Stroh had other plans as he recorded his second outfield assist of the night and out number three.  Jacob James earned his fourth win of the season and moved to 4-0. 

The Rafters (31-6) go to Rockford to begin a two-game series against the Rivets (18-19) tomorrow night at 6:35 pm.  Catch all the action on the home of Rafters Baseball, 1320 AM/97.5 FM WFHR, with Brett Loftis. 

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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’ 28th 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 280 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 (NYM), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist and Brandon Crawford (SFG) and World Series Champion Chris Sale (BOS). As well as 2019 Rookie of the Year and 2019/2021 Home Run Derby Champion Pete Alonso (NYM) and 2021 All-Star, MLB Gold Glove winner and 2019 Second Team All-MLB shortstop Marcus Semien (TEX). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League website. League games are viewable live at watchnwl.com. 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.