Wisconsin Rapids, Wis. – The offense was cooking for the Wisconsin Rapids Rafters (4-6) yet again as they took down the Fond du Lac Dock Spiders (4-5) in Wednesday night’s game 11-4. The Rafters were led by three-hit games from both Chris Diaz and Kameron Douglas while the bullpen allowed just one run in six innings.
Drew Thompson started things with a shutout first, handing it off to the offense to grab a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the inning. It started with Kameron Douglas’ RBI single off Fond du Lac starter Tannis Lange (0-2) before Matthew Pinal also picked up an RBI. Jack Guerrero capped off the first inning scoring by coming home on Chris Diaz’s stolen base throw down.
The Dock Spiders responded immediately, picking up three runs in the top of the second off Rafters starter Drew Thompson and knotting it 3-3. The first came when Jonathon Fitz scored on a wild pitch before Reece VanDevander scored on an error from Rafters shortstop Mason Onate. Patrick Graham finished the frame’s scoring with a sac fly RBI.
The Rafters took the lead right back in the bottom of the inning thanks to a two-RBI single from Noah Ruiz off Fond du Lac’s Lange, making it 5-3.
Drew Thompson completed a shutout third inning before handing it off to Zach Crotchfelt (1-0), who went two scoreless.
In the bottom of the fifth, the Rafters broke the game open, scoring four runs to take a 9-3 lead. Noah Ruiz led things with a two-RBI double, then he scored on a Luke Skinner RBI before Mason Onate came home on an error from Dock Spiders reliever Gunner Gilmore.
Brent Gallegos relieved Rafters’ Crotchfelt to start the sixth and he went two scoreless as the Rats and Dock Spiders traded zeros.
The Rafters turned to Tony Torres in the eighth, and he picked up three outs in three batters before Wisconsin Rapids added a pair of runs to make it 11-3 on back-to-back RBI singles from Matthew Pinal and Diaz off Fond du Lac’s Karter Beving.
Torres came back out for the ninth, and after a solo homer from Matt Hansen, he finished them off with a strikeout to end the game.
The Rafters now sit just half a game back of the Dock Spiders in the Great Lakes West standings as they look to move up in the table. The Rafters start a new series Thursday with the Royal Oak Leprechauns, where they’ll host back-to-back games with the team from the Great Lakes East. First pitch of Thursday’s game will be at 6:35pm and televised on ESPN+ along with broadcast over radio on WFHR 97.5 FM/1320 AM.