(GREEN BAY ROCKERS) – Behind a steady performance from Caden Crask-Weeks, Green Bay plated 17 runs on 15 hits to take down the Rafters 17-6. The Rockers scored early and often, jumping out to a 7-0 lead in the first frame.
Crask-Weeks tossed four shutout innings and only allowed a pair of hits. With his six strikeouts through 17 batters faced, Crask-Weeks showcased some of his best swing-and-miss stuff this season. His six punchouts tied his season high in a game, but he did so in less innings pitched this afternoon.
The scoring began in the top of the first inning with David Ballenilla’s RBI single which was his second straight game getting Green Bay on the board. Parker Martin then broke through with a two-RBI single to give the Rockers a 3-0 lead. An RBI walk issued to Josh Martin, a two-RBI single from Aidan Kuni and wild pitch would have the Rockers up 7-0 heading into the home half of the first.
The Rockers tacked on five more in the third inning on a couple of bases loaded walks as well as David Ballenilla’s second RBI knock. He plated two with a double. A sacrifice fly from Seungmin Shin then had Green Bay up 12-0 in the early innings.
Dom Bello notched an RBI with an opposite field base hit followed by a pair of RBI singles from Shin and Payton Fort. Parker Martin then scored Ballenilla on an RBI fielder’s choice for the sixteenth Rocker run of the game.
Henry Irwin pitched well for Green Bay in the middle innings. He went three innings and only allowed one run on Carter Bennett’s RBI double in the seventh. Tyler Straily struggled in the eighth inning as he allowed three Rafter runs to make it 16-4. Bennett drilled a two-RBI single to cut into the big deficit. He was responsible for three of the Rafters six runs.
Josh Martin came up in the ninth inning and recorded his first Northwoods League hit which was a solo homerun against Connor Harvie, a position player who was pitching for the Rafters. The score was 17-4 in the bottom of the ninth. Kaden Straily came in to pitch and gave up two runs on an error by Ballenilla and an RBI single from Jack Zeller. The Rafters offense in the eight and ninth innings proved to be too little too late as they would drop game two of the series to the Rockers 17-6
Green Bay now sits in second place in the Great Lakes West. They will head to La Crosse tomorrow to take on a talented Loggers team in a two-game set before starting a crucial series with the Wausau Woodchucks that carries heavy playoff implications.
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