Woodchucks Dominate Rockers 8-3
The Wausau Woodchucks (15-16) demolished the Green Bay Rockers (10-21) with a final score of 8-3 on a beautiful Wednesday night at Athletic Park.
The Chucks started the game off with a bang. Pitcher Jack Wenninger (Illinois) struck out two of the first three Rockers batters he faced, setting the mood for the game. Hunter Dorraugh (San Jose State) followed suit at bat, hammering a home run on his very first swing of the night to put the Chucks in the lead by one run.
The Rockers managed to plate a run during the top of the 2nd inning as a result of hitting back-to-back doubles, but their pitcher was unable to keep the momentum, loading the bases with only one out and then walking both Brent Widder (Evansville) and Mark Shallenberger (Evansville) to give the Chucks an easy two more runs. Brock Watkins (BYU) drove in another run for the Chucks with a single, followed by Shallenberger stealing home on a wild pitch to put the score at 6-1.
Kaeber Rog (Southern Illinois) followed Shallenberger’s lead, stealing home on a wild pitch as well in the bottom of the 3rd to plate yet another run for the Chucks.
To add to the misfortune of the Rockers, Dorraugh (San Jose State) blasted his second home run of the night out of the park, tacking on another run for the Chucks in the bottom of the 4th.
Nate Madej (Florida Southern) came in to relieve Wenninger (Illinois) in the top of the 7th, who only gave up 3 hits to the Rockers in a full 6 innings of pitching. David Barret (Florida State) then came in to relieve Madej in the top of the 8th, giving up two runs to the Rockers but managing to close the inning out and hold Green Bay from rallying.
The Woodchucks had Tyler Denu (Evansville) close out the game in the top of the 9th inning, ending any hope the Rockers had at trying for a 9th inning rally by striking out two batters, the final out coming from a putout to right field for a final score of 8-3.
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The Wausau Woodchucks 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’ 28th season, the Northwoods League is the largest organized baseball league in the world with 22 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 280 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 (NYM), two-time World Series Champions Ben Zobrist and Brandon Crawford (SFG) and World Series Champion Chris Sale (BOS). As well as 2019 Rookie of the Year and 2019/2021 Home Run Derby Champion Pete Alonso (NYM) and 2021 All-Star, MLB Gold Glove winner and 2019 Second Team All-MLB shortstop Marcus Semien (TEX). All league games are viewable live via the Northwoods League website. League games are viewable live at watchnwl.com. For more information, visit woodchucks.com or download the new Northwoods League Mobile App on the Apple App Store or on Google Play and set the Rockers 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]
