{"id":17738,"date":"2026-07-24T16:11:37","date_gmt":"2026-07-24T21:11:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/wisconsin-rapids-rafters\/?p=17738"},"modified":"2026-07-24T16:11:37","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T21:11:37","slug":"crerars-first-inning-grand-slam-powers-rafters-past-huskies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/northwoodsleague.com\/wisconsin-rapids-rafters\/2026\/07\/24\/crerars-first-inning-grand-slam-powers-rafters-past-huskies\/","title":{"rendered":"Crerar&#8217;s First-Inning Grand Slam Powers Rafters Past Huskies"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>By Lance Roth<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">WISCONSIN RAPIDS, Wis. \u2014 The Wisconsin Rapids Rafters (16-38) struck early with a five-run first inning, highlighted by Bennett Crerar\u2019s grand slam, while another strong outing from the pitching staff carried the Rafters to a 5-2 victory over the Duluth Huskies (21-32).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Rafters offense totaled six hits on the afternoon, with Crerar providing the biggest swing of the game. Wisconsin Rapids erupted for all five of its runs in the opening inning after Quinn Falish and Nolan Stevens singled back-to-back to begin the frame.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Gunnar Dillard worked a walk to load the bases before Danny Gavin followed with an RBI single to give the Rafters an early lead. Crerar then launched a grand slam, his second home run of the season, putting Wisconsin Rapids in front 5-0.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">While the offense did all of its damage in the opening inning, the Rafters pitching staff made the lead stand the rest of the way. Colton LaFave earned the win in his final game of the season, tossing five innings while allowing two runs on five hits and striking out five. LaFave threw a season-high 102 pitches in the outing.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">After LaFave exited, Mikey Hotinski and Casey Wambach combined to shut the door. Hotinski worked a scoreless sixth inning with two strikeouts before Wambach earned his first save of the season by throwing three scoreless innings, allowing no hits while striking out one. The Rafters bullpen combined for four scoreless innings to preserve the three-run victory.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Duluth chipped away at the deficit in the third inning when Waylon Walsh delivered an RBI single to score Maddox Monsour, cutting the lead to 5-1. The Huskies added another run in the fifth with Kayden Cambell and Anothny Cepeda sending back-to-back singles to left field.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The Rafters will look to build on Thursday\u2019s victory as they continue their homestand. Wisconsin Rapids will play host to the Lakeshore Chinooks, with first pitch scheduled for 6:35 p.m. Friday night at Historic Witter Field.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Lance Roth WISCONSIN RAPIDS, Wis. \u2014 The Wisconsin Rapids Rafters (16-38) struck early with a five-run first inning, highlighted  [&#8230;]<\/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":[775,15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17738","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-latest-stories","category-team-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.5 (Yoast SEO v26.5) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Crerar&#039;s First-Inning Grand Slam Powers Rafters Past Huskies - 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