Wisconsin Rapids, Wis. – After a season-long game, the Wisconsin Rapids Rafters finally picked up their first win of the season, taking down the Wausau Woodchucks 13-11. A game paced by big hits from the Rafters saw five for extra bases, including three multi-run homers from the Rats. Wisconsin Rapids’ Royce Clayton Jr. kept his momentum rolling, going 4-5 with two doubles and three runs while Noah Ruiz collected five RBI and two runs on a 2-5 night. Wausau’s Dylan Schlotterback had a strong night as well, reaching base four times with two runs and RBIs, but it wasn’t enough to complete a six-run comeback attempt.
The Woodchucks started hot, putting up three runs in the top of the first thanks to a two-RBI single from Wausau’s Schlotterback off Rafters starter Drew Thompson another came through on a throw to second trying to catch a runner stealing.
The Rafters responded with their own big inning, scoring five in the bottom of the first and making it 5-3. After a pair of groundouts, the next five Rafters scored, with Ashton Zacher coming home on a wild pitch, Clayton Jr. on Noah Ruiz’s RBI single, and Hiroto Kobayashi, Ruiz and Luke Skinner all on Skinner’s three-run shot off Wausau starter Ethan Jezierski (0-1).
Thompson found his stuff with a scoreless second, while the Rafters added two more runs on Jack Guerrero’s two-run bomb off Woodchucks’ Jezierski, making it 7-3.
Wausau cut the deficit by one on Nathan Ball’s sacrifice fly off Rafters’ Thompson, making it 7-4 in the top of the third. That didn’t last long as Wisconsin Rapids scored two more in the bottom of the frame on throwing errors after a failed pickoff attempt by the Woodchucks, extending the Rafters’ lead to 9-4.
Jafet Martinez (1-0) relieved Wisconsin Rapids’ Thompson to start the fourth and pitched a shutout frame before the Rafters added another run in the bottom half with Royce Clayton Jr. coming home on a grounder from Noah Ruiz off Wausau reliever Zach Wyatt, making it 10-4.
From there, the lead started to fade as the Woodchucks put up two runs in the top of the fifth thanks to back-to-back RBI hits from Wausau’s Jake Weatherspoon and Christian Smith-Johnson off Rafters’ Martinez, cutting the difference to 10-6.
The two teams shut each other out past then until the top of the eighth, when the Woodchucks scored three runs. It started with a trio of walks from Wisconsin Rapids’ Espn Simpson before Tony Torres took over, and after issuing a walk of his own with a wild pitch to follow, a sacrifice fly from Christian Smith-Johnson made it 10-9.
Despite the Woodchucks grabbing the momentum, it was Rafters’ Ruiz who came to the rescue, ripping a three-run no-doubter to left field off Wausau’s Wyatt and extending the Wisconsin Rapids lead back to four.
The top of the ninth came with the Rafters feeling confident, but a pair of walks were followed by a two-out RBI single from Keagen Jirschele and made it a three-run game with the tying runner at the plate. Wisconsin Rapids’ Torres then hit back-to-back batters to make it 13-11, but he closed it down by inducing a popup from Wausau’s Smith-Johnson to end the game.
With the win, the Rafters improved to 1-2 on the season while the Woodchucks dropped to the same record. They sit tied for fourth place in the subdivision at the end of the day and will rematch tomorrow in Wausau. Wisconsin Rapids expects Bruno Cergol to start while the Woodchucks plan to send out Carter White. First pitch will be at 6:05pm and have a fully televised broadcast on NWL+ and radio commentary on WFHR 97.5 FM/1320 AM.