Wausau Walks off Lakeshore in Stunning Fashion
Northwoods Wausau Woodchucks

Wausau Walks off Lakeshore in Stunning Fashion

Published on July 18, 2025 under Northwoods League (Northwoods)
Wausau Woodchucks News Release


WAUSAU, WI - Going into the bottom of the ninth at Athletic Park on Friday night, the Woodchucks looked out of the game. The Lakeshore Chinooks had scored seven runs in the final three innings to take a commanding 7-2 lead. Wausau had made incredible comebacks all season and had five walk-off wins in 2025, but this deficit looked too big to overcome.

Then, the Woodchucks did the improbable. In their final frame, Wausau rallied off six runs to steal an 8-7 win over the Chinooks. Cade Baldridge (Cowley CC/Kansas) provided the biggest hit of them all, an RBI single up the middle to give the Woodchucks their sixth walk-off win of the summer.

It was Wausau's largest comeback of the summer, as the Woodchucks found a way to keep their incredible rally alive despite being down to their final strike on multiple occasions. They pulled it off in front of an electric crowd of 1627 fans, the second largest crowd at Athletic Park this summer.

Wausau's amazing inning started with a leadoff single by Josh Arquette (Panola CC). Then, Zach Knowlton (Central Michigan) took a walk and Christian Smith-Johnson (Texas A&M) loaded the bases with a single. Jake Berkland (Minnesota State-Mankato) grounded into a fielder's choice on the next play, earning an RBI, but the play put Wausau down to their final out.

The next five hitters would reach for the Woodchucks to somehow continue the rally. Noah Malone (Loyola Marymount) drilled an RBI single to make the score 7-4. Then Dylan Schlotterback (Paris JC/Kansas) reached on an error, Max Soliz Jr. (Kansas) took a bases loaded walk, and Dom Rodriguez (Arizona) was hit by the first pitch he saw, earning an RBI with the bases loaded. All of a sudden, Wausau had cut Lakeshore's lead to one, with both the tying run and the winning run in scoring position.

Josh Arquette then came to the plate for the second time in the inning and had a moment of redemption. After striking out with the tying run at third in Sunday's loss to Wisconsin Rapids, Arquette ran out an infield RBI single to tie the game. That set up Baldridge's game-winning hit, as he became the fourth Woodchuck this season to register an RBI walk-off hit.

The win gives Wausau its ninth consecutive win at home, and their 31st victory of the season. Wausau is now 3-0 against Lakeshore at Athletic Park and have won eight of their last ten contests.

The Woodchucks scored the first runs of the game back in the bottom of the fourth. Noah Malone and Dylan Schlotterback delivered back-to-back hits to start the inning, and Dom Rodriguez brought Malone in with an RBI single. It's the 21st RBI for Rodriguez with Wausau this season, and his 70th career RBI in the Northwoods League. Arquette followed with an RBI sacrifice fly that scored Schlotterback and gave the Woodchucks a 2-0 lead.

The game would remain that way until the seventh, when Lakeshore started a late-inning run that turned the game on its head. The Chinooks scored two in the seventh, two more in the eighth, and three runs in the ninth to take a big lead. However, the Woodchucks never quit, and had the last laugh with their incredible rally in the bottom of the ninth.

Wausau was led on the mound by an excellent performance from Tyson Potts (Wayland Baptist/Central Michigan). The right-hander delivered six innings of one-run baseball in his ninth start of the season, striking out nine hitters and issuing no walks. The outing was highlighted by a memorable fifth inning, where Potts got out of a bases loaded jam with nobody out without surrendering a run.

The Woodchucks are now 10-3 in the second half, and now one of only five teams to register double digit wins in the month of July. Wausau still has a half game lead on Green Bay in the second half Great Lakes West standings, as the Rockers also picked up a win on Friday night. They will hope to build on their lead at the top of the division over the next week, as tonight's game kicked off a seven-game homestand for the Woodchucks- their longest of the 2025 season.

That homestand continues tomorrow when the Woodchucks look for a two-game sweep over the Lakeshore Chinooks in a matchup scheduled for 3:05 p.m. If Wausau can pick up the win, it will be the seventh two-game sweep for the Woodchucks in the 2025 season.

Fans should keep an eye out tomorrow for our Batting Woody Bobblehead Giveaway, presented by Aspirus. The first 500 fans through the gates will take home a collectible Batting Woody Bobblehead, so it's a good idea to get to the game early. In addition, the Woodchucks also have the Festival Foods Family 4-Pack promotion tomorrow. Fans can get four tickets, four Festival Foods Oktoberfest Brats, and four ice creams for just $40 when using promo code 4pack at checkout. For more information on tickets and upcoming promotions, fans can visit woodchucks.com.

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Northwoods League Stories from July 18, 2025


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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