For Wausau Pilot & Review
WAUSAU – The Wausau Woodchucks (32-31) faced off against the Fond du Lac Dock Spiders (34-30) on a stormy Saturday evening, in a matchup critical to the battle for the Northwoods League baseball playoffs. After two rain delays, one in the top of the sixth and one in the top of the seventh, the Chucks would end up victorious with a final score of 11-5.
The Woodchucks tried to strike early by loading the bases in the bottom of the first but could not capitalize on the opportunity. Jack Wenniger (Illinois) made quick work in the next two innings, only throwing 27 pitches total in innings two and three.
Jakob Boos (UW-Stevens Point) hit an electrifying double in the bottom of the fourth inning, but the Woodchucks wouldn’t score. Fond du Lac would lead as the game headed into its first weather delay with a score of 3-0.
Travis Stapleton (Polk State) smacked a sacrifice fly for his first RBI of the season, driving in Tyler Cox (Eckerd) to chip away at the Dock Spiders’ lead. The game would head to a second rain delay after the sixth inning, but the Chucks would come back with a vengeance, scoring seven runs in the bottom half of the seventh inning. Three of those runs would come from a double to left field by Stapleton, driving in Cox, Nik Levensteins (North Georgia), and Garret Hill (North Dakota State).
The Chucks would add a few more insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth inning coming from a three-run home run by Hill.
The Woodchucks host Fond du Lac again Sunday at 1:05 p.m.
