Royal Oak, Mich. – Another game came down to the last at-bat for the Wisconsin Rapids Rafters (10-20) as they fell 5-4 to the Royal Oak Leprechauns (13-18) on the road. The loss came despite the Rafters leading most of the game, with Royal Oak putting up three runs in the eighth to take the lead late. Drew Thompson had another strong start, pitching four innings of one-run ball, while Gunnar Myro picked up a pair of hits and Pat Costin had two RBIs.
The Leprechauns were the first to score, picking up a run in inning number one on a wild pitch from Wisconsin Rapids’ Thompson, taking a 1-0 lead.
In the top of the second, the Rafters sailed back in front 2-1 with two runs in the inning. The first came from Erik Parker’s RBI triple off Royal Oak starter Jack Decker and the second from Pat Costin’s sacrifice fly off Decker to send Parker home.
The next run came in the top of the fourth when the Rafters extended their lead to 3-1 on Gunnar Myro’s RBI single off Royal Oak’s Decker.
That run came back the next inning when the Leprechauns added one run in the bottom of the fifth on Nolan Alvord’s RBI single off Rafters reliever Kameron Douglas, making it a 3-2 game.
Once again, the Rafters built the lead up to two runs in the top of the sixth, seeing Erik Parker score on Pat Costin’s RBI double off Royal Oak reliever Grant Essig to grow the advantage to 4-2.
Trevor Moeck had a shutout sixth inning for the Rafters, and he was relieved by Wisconsin Rapids’ Alejandro Morales (0-3) to start the seventh, going went three up, three down to keep it 4-2.
The eighth inning didn’t go the same way, with the Leprechaun’s luck taking a turn in the right direction. The frame started with back-to-back doubles off Wisconsin Rapids’ Morales, making it a 4-3 game. That was followed by two straight singles, sending home the tying run and knotting it 4-4. With the go-ahead runner on third, Royal Oak’s Ty Allen hit a sac fly off Morales to give them the 5-4 advantage.
The Rafters were given one more shot to score in the top of the ninth, but Jake Shelagowski shut down Wisconsin Rapids with a perfect inning to earn the save (1).
The Leprechauns are now one game back of Kenosha in the Great Lakes East while the Rafters remain in fifth, half a game ahead of Lakeshore. The two squads will play once more on Thursday evening at 6:35 P.M. ET and it will be broadcast for video on NWL+ and for radio on WFHR 97.5 FM/1320 AM.