Rafters' Late Game Heroics Defeat the Rivets in Rain Delayed Affair

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Northwoods Rockford Rivets

Rafters' Late Game Heroics Defeat the Rivets in Rain Delayed Affair

June 25, 2025 - Northwoods League (Northwoods)
Rockford Rivets News Release


ROCKFORD, Ill. - In a game that lasted nearly five hours, it was late-game heroics for the Rafters that secured them the victory over the Rivets.

A rain delay halted today's affair between the Rockford Rivets (13-14) and the Wisconsin Rapids Rafters (10-19). The over an hour wait extended what looked to be a shootout, which was similar to last night's matchup. In the end, it was a RBI single for the Rafters, devastating the Rivets' faithful who waited the whole game.

Tommy Townsend (Xavier) got the start for Head Coach Chase Brewster today. The normal first baseman has now become more of a two-way player for the Rivets this season. He pitched previously this season out of the bullpen, throwing 2.2 scoreless innings. Today, he got his chance to start.

Townsend got himself into some trouble at the top of the first. Three straight singles loaded up the bases with two outs. The Sycamore, Illinois, native got the ground ball to get out of the jam. Brewster went in-depth in the decision to put Townsend on the mound.

"When you start a kid and make him the DH, you're allowed to leave him in to hit for himself," Brewster said. "So we just wanted to go with it in the front end instead of the back end, so that way, we didn't get in a situation where the pitcher was hitting for themselves."

The Rivets got on the board early in the second inning. Collin Mowry (Louisville) hit a leadoff single on his debut after coming to Rockford following the end of his college season, in Omaha, Nebraska, during the College World Series.

Another single and a walk loaded up the bases for Conner Cunningham (Murray State), who also traveled to Omaha. Cunningham was hit on the arm, giving the Rivets the lead. Townsend himself gave himself some run support with an RBI single up the middle, and the Rivets took a two-run lead to end the second inning.

The Rafters bounced back at the top of the third. Two walks and good baserunning put runners on the corners. A passed ball scored the runner on third, and it became a one-run game.

Townsend's day ended following the run. His two innings on the mound saw two earned runs on three hits with two strikeouts and three walks.

The Rafters weren't done following Townsend's departure. The bases were loaded following two more walks. An RBI double scored two more runs, a wild pitch added another and finally an RBI single ended a five-run third inning on two hits for Wisconsin Rapids.

Rockford responded in the bottom half of the third. Cade Climie (Houston) turned on a 3-1 pitch and smacked it to deep left for his first home run as a part of the Rivets. A walk and a stolen base from Sam Flores (Purdue) put him in scoring position for Ty Waid (McLennan). Waid hit an RBI single, and the Rivets were right back within one run to end the third.

After a sacrifice fly from Wisconsin Rapids in the fourth, a rain delay hit Rivets Stadium in the bottom of the fifth with the Rafters up 6-4.

After over an hour of delay, the game started back up with the top of the sixth.

The Rivets finally broke through their three-scoreless-inning streak in the bottom of the seventh. After back-to-back singles from Harrison Bowman (Troy) and Tate Shimao (Hawaii), the Rivets were in a great position for Adison Worthman (Parkland), who came in to pinch hit for Climie.

Worthman smacked a double off the left field wall, scoring both and tying the game at six apiece. The Sophomore got his first hit since June 6, and it was a big one.

"Adison probably hasn't gotten the at-bats he wants," Brewster said. "He gets to step up in a big spot due to injury and was three inches away from hitting a three-run home run to put us up, but the double tied it, and it was a huge hit."

The game remained tied going into the ninth inning. The Rafters got two on with two out for right fielder Hiroto Kobayashi. He hit a bloop single to right field, scoring one and putting the Rafters up one going into the bottom of the ninth.

The bottom of the ninth started with a flyout to right-center from Worthman. Mowry followed up with a flyout to center, and it was all up to Flores to continue the game. Flores followed up his teammates and flew out to center himself. The Rivets fell to the Rafters 7-6.

The Rivets used six pitchers in today's affair. Following Townsend was George Gouriotis (Edgewood). He struggled on the mound and gave up three runs on two hits in a single inning pitched. Porter Conn (Kansas) pitched 0.2 innings, giving up one run on one hit.

The next two relievers pitched well. Alexander Llinas (Nova Southeastern) and Cooper Cohn (Northern Illinois) threw a combined 3.1 scoreless innings. Finally, it was Ben Catrambone (Limestone) who ended with the loss today. He pitched well in his two innings of work until the single from Kobayashi. He ended with a single earned run on the game-winning single hit and four strikeouts to two walks.

The Rivets have been through a rough stretch the past couple of games, falling to 13-14 on the season. Brewster continues to try and inspire his players every game.

"The culture is who you are when you lose," Brewster said. "Everybody's got good culture when you win... The culture isn't going to be who we are right now, losing five of the last six."

The Rivets will look to bounce back tomorrow night at Rivets Stadium against the Kenosha Kingfish at 6:05 p.m. Fans can purchase tickets for Rivets games all season long at www.rockfordrivets.com.



Northwoods League Stories from June 25, 2025


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