Rafters Collect Win In Wausau To Split Home-And-Home With Woodchucks
WAUSAU, WI. – The Rafters snagged their second win of the season against the Wausau Woodchucks at Athletic Park on Friday night.
Wisconsin Rapids got on the board first in the second inning with a sacrifice fly off the bat of Walker Buchanan, scoring Aidan Teel who had doubled with one out. The Woodchucks knotted the game up in the home half of the inning. Max Soliz Jr reached on an error from third baseman Greyson Shafer and scored on a fielder’s choice that Christian Smith-Johnson reached on.
Teel broke the tie in the fourth on an RBI single with two outs, which marked yet another multi-hit game for the Mahwah, NJ native.
Mason Onate announced his presence in the contest with authority to lead off the sixth inning. The infielder launched his second home run of the season over the right-field wall to extend the Rafters’ lead to 3-1.
Tracer Lopez came through for Rapids an inning later. The Texas Tech shortstop lined a two-out single into right field and plated two runs. Lopez’s two-out single in the seventh inning plated two runs, set up by a base hit from Cashel Dugger and a double by Kyler McIntosh.
Wausau made it a three-run game in the bottom half of the seventh, as an infield single from Edian Espinal made it 5-2.
Dugger collected his second hit of the game for Wisconsin Rapids with an RBI double in the eighth inning, which led to the game’s final score of 6-2.
Houston High got the start and victory for the Rafters in this one. The right-hander held Wausau hitless through 5.2 innings and only allowed one knock in his six frames of work. High allowed an unearned run and walked three. The Tennessee Tech commit did not collect a punchout on 78 pitches, as he fed his infield groundballs all night long.
Sebastian Escobar opposed High on the hill for the Woodchucks. The right-hander went 6.2 innings against the Rafter offense on his home mound. Escbobar collected the loss and allowed four runs on five hits.
Michael Pirrello slammed the door shut out of the Rafter stable. The UC Irvine product collected the final six outs and allowed just one hit. Nothing came across on Pirrello and he struck out three Woodchuck hitters on 26 pitches.
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. Having completed its’ 30th season, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 26 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, over 245 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 (WAS), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist (CHC) and Brandon Crawford (SFG) and World Series Champion Chris Sale (BOS). As well as 2019 Rookie of the Year and Home Run Derby Champion Pete Alonso (NYM) and MLB All-Star Jordan Zimmermann (DET). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League website. All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League portal. 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
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Author: David Keech
David Keech is a retired teacher and works as a sportswriter, sports official and as an educational consultant. He has reported on amateur sports since 2011, known as 'KeechDaVoice.' David can be reached at [email protected]
