Three Rafter Bats Selected to 2024 Northwoods League All-Star Game in Mankato
WISCONSIN RAPIDS, Wis. – The Wisconsin Rapids Rafters will send three players to the 2024 Northwoods League All-Star game in Mankato, with the final ballot results coming out Friday morning. Max McGwire, Jack Mathey, and Jorge De Goti will be representing the Rafters in Minnesota in the game of the summer on July 23.
McGwire has been a dominant force in the Rafter order from the moment he arrived in Rapids. McGwire’s slash line in his first 32 games sits at .325/.433/.538. McGwire’s .971 OPS is 14th in the Northwoods League.
The Irvine, CA native has five home runs on the season, with three of them being grand slams. McGwire’s 35 RBIs rank 10th amongst all hitters leaguewide.
McGwire exceptionally made his Rafter debut against the Waterloo Bucks on May 29. In his first official Northwoods League at-bat, McGwire clubbed a grand slam over the left field wall at Historic Witter Field. It was a part of a five-run inning for the Rafters in their first home win of the season.
The Redshirt Sophomore spent the past spring at the University of San Diego and has received a ton of reps at first base and the plate this summer. McGwire was at the University of Oklahoma in his first two seasons of NCAA play.
Mathey is a native of Copley, OH, and a rising Senior. The catcher spent the last three seasons at Division ll Ohio Dominican University in the GMAC conference. Mathey turned heads in his junior season at the dish for the Panthers. Mathey started in 34 games and appeared in 35 this past spring. He hit .385 in college ball and finished the season with an OPS over 1.000.
Mathey was the Rafters Opening Day catcher at Herr-Baker Field in Fond du Lac back on Memorial Day. He hasn’t looked back since arriving in Rapids and his numbers in the batters box show. Mathey is one spot ahead of his teammate McGwire in OPS across the whole league with a .981 mark through 30 games. The slugger has a slash line of .317/.466/.515 and has thrived at Witter Field, clubbing all six of his home runs on the campaign in Wisconsin Rapids.
Mathey’s two home-run game against Green Bay on July 5 was a huge driver in the three-game winning streak the team went on at the beginning of the second half. The veteran in the clubhouse is committed to Kent State in the fall and will get his first taste of Division l baseball next spring.
De Goti is the lone Rafter hitter to return to the team from last year’s squad. The Miami native led the 2023 Rafters in batting average, as he hit .328 in 39 games. In his second go around in Rapids, De Goti is producing similar results. The Nova Southeastern product is slashing .325/.429/.377 in 32 games with the club thus far.
De Goti has matched his home run total from a summer ago at one, with his lone long ball coming against La Crosse at Copeland Park on June 10. The outfielder had the team’s longest hitting streak of the season in the first half, which reached as high as 10 games. Before Friday night’s game against the Lakeshore Chinooks, De Goti has collected a knock in his last six contests.
Prior to his time at Nova Southeastern, De Goti spent time with the Indiana Hoosiers in 2023 and the Florida Gators.
The 2024 Northwoods League All-Star Game is at ISG Field in Mankato, MN, home of the Moondogs. The game is scheduled for Tuesday, July 23 at 7:00.
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]
