Wisconsin Rapids, WI— It was a great day to be a Rafter as the Rafters dominated the Mallards by a score of 9-1 to split the series. The Rafters had the bats rolling as they out hit Madison by a score of 11-2.
The Rafters got off to the races in the 2nd inning as they went up 1-0 from Chris Conniff getting home scoring unearned on a stolen base. They really started to roll in the 4th inning as Kyle Carlson hit a 2 run RBI double to center that sent Jack Basseer and Matt Olive home. The Rafters then extended their lead to 3-0.
The bats did not stop for the rats as Chris Conniff dropped a ball into shallow right center that sent Olive and Basseer home to add to the Rafters total of going up 6-0. As good as the Rafters were on the offensive side of the ball. The pitching was exceptional as Jacob Rosenkranz got the start on the mound and had 3 perfect innings. Allowing no hits, no one on base, and getting 9 straight outs. The pitching success did not stop as the Salem product, Sam Schmitt, took the mound. Sam had 4 strikeouts and only walked 2 batters. The Rafters continued to have success at the plate with Kyle Carlson having his second straight RbI that sent Basseer home. Levi Jensen followed it up with an RBI single to center field which allowed Shane Taylor to cross home plate. The Rafters acquired 3 hits and 3 runs in the bottom of the 7th to go up 8 runs.
Wisconsin Rapids had 3 errors but the timely strikeouts and the heads up plays from the infield allowed them to not give up any runs unearned. They played their best baseball of the year and played a complete game. With this win, improve their record to 3-5. This Rafters have a lot of talent and if they can put it together and play well on both sides of the ball, they will be dangerous going forward.
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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]
