Wausau, Wis. – A rain-shortened game didn’t stop the Wausau Woodchucks’ (10-6) offense from putting up numbers, taking down the Wisconsin Rapids Rafters (7-10) 21-7 at Athletic Park Thursday night. The Rafters offense performed well, scoring seven runs in five innings, but it was nothing like the 21 in four innings by Wausau. The Woodchucks had four players with three or more hits, and all but one player had a hit. Spencer Davis reached base three times and Noah Ruiz had a home run for the Rafters, but the pitching staff struggled to get outs as the Woodchucks took control.
The Rafters got started with a pair of runs in the top of the first on RBIs from Matthew Pinal and Hiroto Kobayashi off Woodchucks starter Nolan Bernard, but the Woodchucks scored three in the bottom of the frame off Wisconsin Rapids starter Kenny Schultz (0-1), taking a 3-2 lead through the first.
The offense kept churning as the rain picked up in the top of the second, with the Rafters adding another couple on Noah Ruiz’s two-run homer and reclaiming the lead 4-3.
The lead didn’t last long though, as the Woodchucks scored 10 runs in the bottom of the second. Nine of those runs were on the line of Wisconsin Rapids’ Schultz, but he was relieved by Tristin Crusenberry midway through the inning. Crusenberry got out of the inning but allowed the inherited runs and one of his own to score before doing so.
Despite the struggles on the mound, the Rafters offense kept clicking, adding three more runs off Wausau’s Bernard in the top of the third on RBIs from Davis and Ruiz and cutting the deficit to 13-7.
The Woodchucks added another two runs in the bottom of the third, and after Everett Swaim (1-0) shut down the Rafters offense in the top of the fourth, Wausau scored another six runs in the bottom of the fourth to make it 21-7.
As the rain began to come down harder, the Rafters offense came to a standstill in the fifth, and with the game reaching the necessary length, it was called a final score.
The loss snapped the Rafters three-game win streak and keeps them behind both Fond du Lac and Green Bay by less than two games in the Great Lakes West standings. Their next game will be a rematch with the Woodchucks at Witter Field, with first pitch scheduled for 6:35 P.M. The game will be broadcast for video on NWL+ and for radio on WFHR 97.5 FM/1320 AM.