Wausau Woodchucks use late surge to defeat Green Bay Rockers

For Wausau Pilot & Review

WAUSAU – The bats were hot tonight for the Wausau Woodchucks as they returned from the Northwoods League All-Star break to defeat the Green Bay Rockers 9-4 on Thursday at Athletic Park.

The Chucks (42-12 overall, 16-4 second half) are now 8-1 against the Rockers this season.

Travis Lutz (Bradley University) made his third pitching start of the season and went a season high five innings with two strikeouts. David Morrissey (Eastern Florida) came in as relief for Lutz in the top of the sixth and had two strikeouts. His performance earned him his third win of the season. Carsen Plumadore (Georgia Southwestern) closed out the game, also finishing with a pair of strikeouts, which earned him the save.

The game was a pitchers’ duel through 2½ innings, with neither side able to open the scoring. The Woodchucks finally broke through in the bottom of the third, with Edian Espinal (Central Florida) coming home on a throwing error. The Chucks put up two more in the fourth and fifth, from RBI by Vance Sheahan (South Carolina-Upstate) and Austin Dearing (Florida International) to bring the score to 3-0.

After Green Bay tied the game, with two outs in the bottom of the sixth, Max Galvin (Miami) launched his eighth home run of the year, a two-run shot to put the Chucks in the lead 5-3.

Following a scoreless seventh inning, the Chucks cracked five hits to plate four more runs in the bottom of the eighth. Vance Sheahan knocked his second home run of the year, a lead-off shot over the left field wall. After an Espinal walk, the Chucks had four singles in order, including RBI singles by Colin Bruggemann (Oklahoma State) and Max Soliz Jr. (Kansas) to forge ahead.

The Chucks go on the road to face Green Bay on Friday and Saturday before returning to Wausau on Sunday to finish the four-game series with the Rockers. The game will be highlighted by an appearance by Scooby Doo. Get groovy with the Mystery Mobile + Woodchucks T-shirt and Ticket Package for only $19 by entering code ‘ScoobyDoo’ at checkout at https://northwoodsleague.com/wausau-woodchucks/tickets/. First pitch is at 1:05 p.m.