WISCONSIN RAPIDS, Wis. – After what was a historic night for the Rafters last night, they came back fighting at Witter Field tonight. After going down early, the Rafters fought back and then some to sweep the Fond du Lac Dock Spiders by a score of 12-6.
In the top of the first inning, Rafters starting pitcher, Brandon Scott, retired the Dock Spiders 1-2-3 in order. However, the Rafters were also retired in order in the home half of the first. However, despite two quick outs in the top of the second, Fondy struck first. A pair of RBI singles from the Dock Spiders put them up 2-0.
Fond du Lac was not done, as they continued to pour it on in the top of the third. An Andrew Sojka two-run homer and an RBI double brought across three in the inning to put the Dock Spiders up 5-0. However, the Rafters remained unphased. A Colin Tuft two-run single in the bottom of the third brought across the first two Rafter runs of the night to make it a 5-2 game. An RBI groundout and a wild pitch brought the Rafters within one, 5-4. Wisconsin Rapids was still not done in the inning, as a two-run double from Garrett Broussard gave the Rats six unanswered runs and a 6-5 lead.
Logan Schulfer entered the game to pitch for the Rafters in the top half of the fourth, as he retired the Dock Spiders 1-2-3. He again held Fondy scoreless in the top half of the fifth. However, a wild pitch in the top of the sixth allowed another Dock Spider run to tie the game up at 6-6. Schulfer ended his night after three innings of allowing one run on three hits, one walk, and four strikeouts.
The Rafters could not stay quiet for long. An RBI double from Chris Conniff in the bottom of the sixth gave the Rats the lead back at 7-6. Chase Call added some more insurance with an RBI single to make it 8-6. One batter later, a two-run Colin Tuft double busted it open to give Wisconsin Rapids a 10-6 lead.
Liam Alpern and Alec Mendoza each threw scoreless frames in the top of the seventh and eighth innings, including Mendoza going three up and three down in the eighth. The Rats struck for one final time in the bottom of the eighth via a two-run double from Cael Chatham to put the Rats ahead 12-6. Connor Kurki went 1-2-3 in the top of the ninth to secure the Rafters 54th victory of 2022. Logan Schulfer earned his seventh win of the season for Wisconsin Rapids.
The Rafters (54-14) will travel to Madison tomorrow night to play the Mallards (25-43) at 6:35 pm. Catch all the action on the home of Rafters Baseball, 1320 AM/97.5 FM WFHR, with the radio voice of the Rafters, Brett Loftis.
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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’ 29th season, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 22 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, 300 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 www.raftersbaseball.com or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play and set the Rafters as your favorite team.
