By Lance Roth

WISCONSIN RAPIDS, Wis. — The Wisconsin Rapids Rafters (19-43) erased an early deficit behind Danny Gavin’s cycle and a dominant final outing from Tristin Crusenberry, while timely power from Kedren Kinzie helped Wisconsin Rapids defeat the Fond du Lac Dock Spiders (27-37) 9-5 Saturday night at Historic Witter Field.

The Rafters offense totaled nine hits on the evening, with Gavin delivering one of his best individual performances of the season. Gavin entered the eighth inning only a triple shy and would get it after a fumble from Jay Campbell at third gave him the time to make it around, ending the night 4-for-5 with five RBIs, a double, a triple, and his second home run of the summer.

The Rafters broke through in the third inning after Quinn Falish and Nolan Stevens reached, and Aidan Thaxton was hit by a pitch for the second time. Gunnar Dillard would get the offense going with a single, sending Falish home. Gavin extended Wisconsin Rapids’ 2-1 advantage with a single to left, bringing Thaxton home.

Fond du Lac answered with two runs in the sixth to briefly reclaim the lead, but Gavin tied the game with a massive home run to left-center for his second of the season. 

The Rafters dugout erupted for four runs in the seventh, starting with Stevens being walked for the third time of the game and Dillard being hit by a pitch. Gavin got the runs started with a double to right-center before Kinzie stepped up, hitting a massive three-run blast to deep left field for his first home run of the summer.

The Rafters added two more insurance runs in the eighth, highlighted by Gavin’s two-RBI triple following back-to-backsingles from Dillard and Stevens, extending their lead to 9-5.

Crusenberry turned in one of his strongest performances of the summer in what marked his final appearance as a Rafter, tossing six innings while allowing three runs on four hits with four strikeouts. Casey Wambach earned his first victory of the season after working the final three innings, allowing two runs on one hit while striking out two.

Fond du Lac opened the scoring in the second inning with a single to left-center from Campbell and a double from Patrick Graham to drive him home.

Andrew Bishop gave the Dock Spiders the lead in the sixth with an RBI double after Quincy Mazeke scored on a wild pitch.

Bishop finished with two hits and three RBIs, accounting for most of the Dock Spiders’ offense. Bishop’s biggest contribution came in the eighth with a two-run homer that went soaring over the scoreboard.

The victory snapped a two-game skid and was highlighted by several milestone performances. Gavin became the first Rafter to hit for the cycle this season and the first Rafter to do so since 2019.

Crusenberry closed out his Wisconsin Rapids career with one of his best starts of the year. With the Rafters, Crusenberry went 138.2 innings, recording three wins, 107 strikeouts and an overall ERA of 8.18, wrapping up an impressive time in the Northwoods League.

The Rafters will look to carry the momentum into Sunday’s series finale against the Dock Spiders. First pitch is scheduled for 1:05 p.m. at Herr-Baker Field.