Rats grab another game off of Madison, winners of 3 straight

Wisconsin Rapids, WI— A solid win for the Rafters at Warner Park results in a sweep of the Mallards as they take them down 4-2. They out hit Madison 11-9.

The Rats took an early lead in the top of second as the hits started to flood in. Broussard singled into left and De Goti drilled a ball into center to bring 2 runners in scoring position. The very next batter, Chris Conniff, laced a hit into the left center field gap to send Broussard home. The Rafters kept the bats rolling in the 3rd inning as Sailors lined a ball into left. With 2 outs, Brendan Bobo saw a 1-2 pitch down the middle and belted a ball into deep center field that hit off the wall to stay fair. Bobo doubled and Sailors scored.

Wisconsin Rapids were shutting the Mallards down on the defensive side of the ball which gave more room for the offense to go to work. That was the exact case in the top of the 5th. Long Beach native, David Rivera, was walked and eventually stole second base. With 2 outs, this brought up Garrett Broussard. The Madison pitcher, Chad McCann, was behind in the count 3-2 on Broussard. Broussard saw the payoff pitch home and hit a high fly ball into deep left field to bring in a 2 run home run. His second homer in 3 games.

The bottom of the 7th came around and the Mallards broke through. A lead off single from Ryan Spock that went past the Rafter shortstop, Luke Hanson. Following it with a hit was Jake Goolsby to put 2 runners on with 2 outs. The Saint Johns outfielder, Jackson Tucker, hit a liner into right field to bring a runner home. As Tucker was taking second, Bobo made an excellent throw to Hanson to tag out the runner. The Rats were fortunate to only give up a run.

Calen Graham got the start at pitcher and went 5 innings. He allowed 3 hits and could not grab a strikeout, but never let up any runs. Mikiah Negrete had himself a day with 4 innings and 5 strikeouts. The Rafters bullpen only threw 2 pitchers which is very rare given how deep their pitching staff is.

A 4-1 lead for the Rafters heading into the bottom of the 9th and Madison made it interesting. 2 singles from Sprock and Fisher gave the way for Goolsby to strike again. He lined a ball into left field near the 3rd base line to bring in Sprock. Tucker walked and the bases were loaded with the tying run at second. There were 2 outs and Noah Sudyka hit a shallow grand ball into the Virginia native, Luke Hanson, to grab the 3rd out and put the game to bed.