Wisconsin Rapids, Wi— It was another night of baseball and another Rafters win as they took down the Dock Spiders 6-1. Each team grabbed 6 hits, but it was 2 big innings for the Rats that decided it.
The Rafters grabbed 2 hits from De Goti and Johnson in the first 3 innings. Defensively, the rats acquired 9 straight outs and shut down the Dock Spiders. Calen Graham was leading the charge on the mound. He went 4 innings, allowed 1 hit, but acquired 4 K’s.
It was a big inning in the top of the 4th for the Rafters as Brendan Bobo got the bats rolling. He saw the 0-1 pitch and blitzed a ball into deep center field for his 9th home run of the season. After that, Garrett Broussard singled into right field followed by a base hit to left from Carlson. Conniff then perfectly executed a sac bunt into the 3rd base line which put the bases loaded with no outs. The catcher, Alex Duffey hit a ground out RBI into second and Broussard waltzed home. It was a wild 3rd run as Duffey stole second and was caught in a pickle that allowed Carlson to run on home and score unearned. Wisconsin Rapids jumped in front 3-0.
There were 2 more scoreless innings and thanks to Brycen Parrish who was given the ball as the Rafters reliever. He went 5 innings, allowed 5 hits, surrendered 1 run, and had 5 strikeouts. He had his best day yet on the mound and that was always a good sight to see.
The dock spiders bullpen staff after Amar Tsengeg did not run very deep as the top of the 7th came around. Brewer and Johnson walked while Duffey was hit by a pitch. Jorge De Goti had a big day including an RBI single to bring in Brewer. The Panamanian, Orlando Lorduy, was hit by a pitch in his leg which allowed Duffey to walk home. Bobo stepped up once again as he hit a sac fly into deep right field and Johnson scored. It was a commanding 6-0 lead for the Rats.
Parrish finished off the game and gave up an unfortunate RBI in the bottom of the 9th from Jake Surnane. He slammed a ball into left field to send in Strickler. It did not matter as the Rats were already up 5 runs. Paul Smith flew out to center and that finished off the game.
A big win for the Rafters as they grab their second in a row. It was a complete performance on both sides of the ball as they gave up no timely hits and were continuing to get big innings. Graham and Parrish had a great command on the mound and combined for 9 strikeouts.
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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]
