Wisconsin Rapids, Wis. \u2013 It was a bad news Friday night for Wisconsin Rapids Rafters (7-11) fans as the hosts lost their second game in a row 8-2 against the Wausau Woodchucks (11-6). The game started a pitcher\u2019s duel, but the Woodchucks broke out the bats in the fifth and took charge the rest of the way. The Rafters had just two players reach base multiple times, while Mason Morello (2-0) went 5.1 innings, allowing just two runs for the Woodchucks.<\/p>\n
After three scoreless innings, it was the Woodchucks who scored first thanks to a leadoff home run from Wausau\u2019s Dylan Schlotterback off Wisconsin Rapids starter Seth Spencer (0-1), giving the \u2018Chucks a 1-0 lead in the fourth.<\/p>\n
The Woodchucks stayed hot into the fifth, adding four runs and taking a 5-0 lead, all on the line of Wisconsin Rapids\u2019 Spencer. The scoring started when Schlotterback picked up an RBI single before Ethan Guerra added a pair of RBIs on his single. Bruno Cergol relieved Spencer after he walked the bases loaded, and allowed just one run on a hit-by-pitch before getting out of the frame.<\/p>\n
The Rafters finally got on the board in the bottom of the sixth, adding two runs on the line of Morello and chasing him from the game. Wisconsin Rapids\u2019 Erik Parker started the scoring, coming home on a balk from Morello before Zach Wyatt relieved him with runners on the corners. Rafters\u2019 Noah Ruiz came up with his Northwoods League-leading 24th<\/sup> RBI by sending home Mason Onate from third and cutting the deficit to 5-2.<\/p>\n That was the last run allowed by the Woodchucks, although their offense responded with another couple of runs in the top of the seventh and making it 7-2. Both came home on Christian Smith-Johnson\u2019s grounder off Rafters reliever Trevor Moeck, which resulted in an error from Wisconsin Rapids third baseman Madden Ocko.<\/p>\n One more run came around for the Woodchucks in the top of the ninth thanks to a solo homer from Noah Malone off Rafters reliever Alejandro Morales. Reece Clapp took the Woodchucks the rest of the way home, going three up, three down in the ninth with two strikeouts to end the game.<\/p>\n The Rafters dropped to 7-11 on the season after back-to-back losses against the Woodchucks, putting them five games back of first and just one game ahead of the last place Chinooks. The Woodchucks stayed in line with the Mallards, remaining just half a game back for first after their win. The Rafters will take on the Dock Spiders next, hosting Fond du Lac at Witter Field Saturday night at 6:35 P.M. The game will be broadcast for video on NWL+ and for radio on WFHR 97.5 FM\/1320 AM.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Wisconsin Rapids, Wis. \u2013 It was a bad news Friday night for Wisconsin Rapids Rafters (7-11) fans as the hosts […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17089","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-team-news"],"yoast_head":"\n