Rafters End First Half Strong, Defeat FDL
Rafters end first half strong, defeat FDL 8-4 at home
Wisconsin Rapids, Wis. – After getting down to a 3-0 deficit after three innings, the Rafters stormed back with eight unanswered and held on to an 8-4 victory at Witter Field.
Ricky Williams got the start for WR and danced with danger throughout, finally ceding three runs in the third frame where he walked in a run, balked in a run, and allowed an RBI groundout. With the bases loaded, Arnad Mulamekic came in and locked it down, striking out Preston Knott to end the inning.
Then after that, it was all Rafters.
They began their comeback immediately in the fourth after Greyson Shafer scored on a passed ball and Kyler McIntosh drove in Jorge DeGoti with a base hit. In the fifth with two outs, Jack Mathey tied the ballgame with a hot shot to third that scored Aidan Teel.
Teel would make his presence felt again in the sixth, lacing a two-out double that drove in two runs in what was his biggest swing as a Rafter up to this point in the season.
“It’s been a good week, building off of every at bat and getting used to pitching, I faced three pitchers today and got a hold of one a little bit,” said Teel after the game. “Getting back in the box and seeing live pitching, nothing can compare to taking live at bats… so just acclimating to live pitching is the biggest challenge.”
Mulamekic dazzled in his 3.1 innings with four strikeouts and no runs allowed. He gave up just one hit in his best outing since early June, and earned the victory for his efforts.
“We pounded the zone, we got pitches down when we needed to make them, we got ground balls when we needed to… our goal was just to make sure that we were in the zone and that we were competitive today,” said pitching coach Mike Spears. “You can’t defend a walk… walks kill us every time. Limit the walks and get the bat to the ball and we have more of an opportunity.”
In the bottom of the seventh the Rafters offense struck again with three more runs created by a Greyson Shafer sacrifice fly, a Landon Gaz RBI walk, and a Kyler McIntosh RBI fielder’s choice. Maddox Thornton was then handed the baton and he closed the game with three innings of one-run ball. He was credited with the save, his first of the season.
While the Rafters ended the first half with a losing record (15-18) and missed out on an automatic playoff spot, they now have some momentum entering the second half. There will be challenges, especially on the pitching side, but the Rafters have shown an unparalleled level of resilience so far this year. Nothing is impossible.
“We do have a couple more arms coming in, the staff will change a little bit,” said Spears. “That’s a good challenge, guys that haven’t had a lot of opportunity will get opportunity, and we’ll see where we go from there.”
The Rafters have two off days coming up and then begin the second half in Madison this coming Wednesday. First pitch is scheduled for 5:35 with Andy Jachim live on WFHR – 97.5 FM, 1320 AM.
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]
