Mequon, Wis. – It was a heartbreaking road loss for the Wisconsin Rapids Rafters (2-5) Sunday afternoon as they dropped their game 8-7 against the Lakeshore Chinooks (1-6) on a walk-off from the home team. The Rafters saw another good performance from Noah Ruiz, going 2-4 with a walk, while starter Anthony Mateo pitched five innings and allowed just two runs.
The Rafters stole the lead early, starting with an RBI groundout from Ashton Zacher off Chinooks starter Koehn Thomas before an error from Lakeshore third baseman Esteban Garcia sent home Royce Clayton Jr. and extended the Wisconsin Rapids lead to 2-0.
The Chinooks got one back in the bottom of the frame thanks to a Nate Gray RBI double off Rafters’ Mateo, cutting the Rafters’ lead to 2-1.
Rapids responded in the top of the third with Rafters’ Pat Costin picking up a sac fly off Lakeshore’s Thomas, extending the gap to 3-1.
From there, the Rafters hit a scoring drought while the Chinooks offense began to heat up. In the bottom of the fourth, Owen Deshazo picked up the first of his four RBIs on a double to left field off Wisconsin Rapids’ Mateo, making it 3-2.
Mateo was relieved by Alejandro Morales to begin the bottom of the sixth, but the narrow 3-2 lead was lost quickly on a three-run shot from Deshazo, giving the Chinooks a 5-3 lead.
5-3 became 6-3 the next frame as Lakeshore’s Brody Rasmussen picked up an RBI single off Rafters reliever Cannon Restine.
Despite the three-run deficit, the Rafters showed fight, making the comeback and scoring four runs in the top of the eighth. It started with Luke Skinner’s RBI single before Royce Clayton Jr. ripped a two-RBI double off Lakeshore’s Jacob Jacome, knotting the game at six. Zander Bretza came in next for the Chinooks, but Ashton Zacher sent his first pitch into center field for an RBI single, getting the 7-6 lead for the Rafters.
Wisconsin Rapids’ Jafet Martinez came in for Restine in the bottom of the eighth, keeping the one-run lead into the ninth. In the bottom of the ninth however, Brody Rasmussen once again starred, sending a two-run walk-off homer over the left field wall and claiming the game 8-7 for the Chinooks.
The Rafters aim to bounce back Monday evening as the two teams rematch for the second game of the series in Mequon. The Rafters and Chinooks both stayed in fifth and sixth respectively in the Great Lakes West after the conclusion of the game. Game 2 of the series will be played with first pitch scheduled for 6:35 P.M. on Monday and will be televised on ESPN+ and broadcast on radio through WFHR 97.5 FM/1320 AM.