Wisconsin Rapids, WI— Another big win for the Rafters as they took down the Lakeshore Chinooks 7-1. They were out hit 8-4, but got hits when needed most.
The Rafters jumped into a big early lead in the top of the second and they never looked back. Anthony Galason was walked and Lorduy was hit by a pitch. This brought up the designated hitter, David Smigelski, who leads the team in batting average. He placed a ball into the left center field gap to send in Galason for the first run of the game. Kyle Carlson followed it up with a ground out into the shortstop, but Lorduy gilded home. Wisconsin Rapids did not stop there as the bats continued to stay hot. Newly acquired outfielder, Jack Gifford, smacked a hit over the head of the right fielder and Smigelski scored. It was then the lead off hitter, Ty Johnson, who continued his streak of RBI’s by making it 4 games in a row. Johnson ripped a hit into left field and 2 more runs scored. The Rafters took full control of this game in the second inning leading 5-0.
The newly acquired Texas State commit, Calen Graham, was given the nod as he went 5 innings allowing 4 hits, but had 5 strikeouts. He had a great command on the mound and Lakeshore had no answer for the terrific work of Graham.
Wisconsin Rapids followed it up with another run in the top of the 3rd. Galason led off with a walk and Lorduy reached 2nd via an error from the Chinook right fielder. The Georgia native, David Smigelski, was right on cue once again as he drilled a sac fly into left field to bring in Galason.
There were 4 more scoreless innings of baseball and the Rafters shut down any Chinook attack. They had a lot of lead off hits, but were not able to bring in any runs because of it. Jackson Corrigan, who was making his second appearance and a good command on the mound. He gave up 4 hits, a run, but tallied 1 strikeouts.
Lakeshore got a consolation run in the bottom of the 9th off the bat of the second baseman, Sam Hojnar. He read the 1-0 pitch perfectly and nuked a ball into right field for a solo home run. It did not matter as the Rafters shut down any momentum Lakeshore had.
The Rats have won 8 of their past 10 games and still sit 1 game back of first. They are playing extremely well on both sides of the ball and are finding ways to win games
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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]
