Another win for the Rats as they inch closer to 1st place

Wisconsin Rapids, WI— Another big win for the Rafters as they took down the Lakeshore Chinooks 7-1. They were out hit 8-4, but got hits when needed most.

The Rafters jumped into a big early lead in the top of the second and they never looked back. Anthony Galason was walked and Lorduy was hit by a pitch. This brought up the designated hitter, David Smigelski, who leads the team in batting average. He placed a ball into the left center field gap to send in Galason for the first run of the game. Kyle Carlson followed it up with a ground out into the shortstop, but Lorduy gilded home. Wisconsin Rapids did not stop there as the bats continued to stay hot. Newly acquired outfielder, Jack Gifford, smacked a hit over the head of the right fielder and Smigelski scored. It was then the lead off hitter, Ty Johnson, who continued his streak of RBI’s by making it 4 games in a row. Johnson ripped a hit into left field and 2 more runs scored. The Rafters took full control of this game in the second inning leading 5-0.

The newly acquired Texas State commit, Calen Graham, was given the nod as he went 5 innings allowing 4 hits, but had 5 strikeouts. He had a great command on the mound and Lakeshore had no answer for the terrific work of Graham.

Wisconsin Rapids followed it up with another run in the top of the 3rd. Galason led off with a walk and Lorduy reached 2nd via an error from the Chinook right fielder. The Georgia native, David Smigelski, was right on cue once again as he drilled a sac fly into left field to bring in Galason. 

There were 4 more scoreless innings of baseball and the Rafters shut down any Chinook attack. They had a lot of lead off hits, but were not able to bring in any runs because of it. Jackson Corrigan, who was making his second appearance and a good command on the mound. He gave up 4 hits, a run, but tallied 1 strikeouts. 

Lakeshore got a consolation run in the bottom of the 9th off the bat of the second baseman, Sam Hojnar. He read the 1-0 pitch perfectly and nuked a ball into right field for a solo home run. It did not matter as the Rafters shut down any momentum Lakeshore had. 

The Rats have won 8 of their past 10 games and still sit 1 game back of first. They are playing extremely well on both sides of the ball and are finding ways to win games. They finish up the series tomorrow with Lakeshore before heading to the 1st place Madison Mallards on Wednesday. First pitch tomorrow is at 6:35

For rafters ticket offerings visit Raftersbaseball.com, call the Rafthouse at 715-424-5400, or come visit us over at historic Witter Field. The Box Office is open from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm, Monday through Friday at Witter Field, 521 Lincoln Street in Wisconsin Rapids.

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. Now in its’ 30^th season, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 24 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 325 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 and on ESPN+. For more information, visit Raftersbaseball.com or download the new Northwoods