(WISCONSIN TIMBER RATTLERS) GRAND CHUTE, WI – The stage was set for a storybook finish for the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers on a beautiful Sunday afternoon at home in front of their biggest crowd of the season. Wisconsin had opportunities for a walkoff victory in both the ninth and tenth innings but fell to the Lansing Lugnuts 5-4.
Lansing (42-57 overall, 13-22 second half) had a 1-0 lead three batters into the game. Rodney Green, Jr singled and Logan Sauve doubled to put runners on the corners. Ali Camarillo drove in Green with a grounder to third.
Ethan Dorchies, the Rattlers starting pitcher, loaded the bases with one out a walk and a hit batsman before escaping the inning on a strikeout and a nice diving play at third by Eric Bitonti for the final out.
Bitonti started the Wisconsin rally to tie the game in the bottom of the second with a lead-off double. Tayden Hall knocked in Bitonti with a triple to the corner in right to even the score.
The Timber Rattlers (53-44 overall, 19-16 second half) had chances to take the lead but had two runners thrown out the plate – Hall when he tried to score from third on a grounder to short in the second and Daniel Dickinson when he tried to score on a wild throw from the outfield in the fourth.
Wisconsin left ten runners on base through nine innings, including two runners in scoring position in the fifth and sixth and the bases loaded in the ninth.
The Rattlers loaded the bases with one out in the ninth on a single and two walks against Jose Dicochea, who escaped the inning on a force play at the plate for the first out and a force play at second to send the game to the tenth inning.
Lansing started their half of the tenth with Green as the placed runner at second. He was sacrificed to third on a bunt by Sauve. Camarillo delivered a single to left through the drawn-in infield to score Green. That single by Camarillo was the first for the Lugnuts since the fifth inning.
Rattlers reliever Quinton Low got the second out with a strikeout before a single and a walk loaded the bases to bring Pedro Pineda to the plate. Pineda sent a sinking line drive to left center. Payne made a diving attempt on the catch and got a glove on the ball but could not secure it. The ball got behind him and went for a three-run triple for a 5-1 lead.
Dicochea went back out for the bottom of the tenth with Payne as the placed runner at second. Dicochea loaded the bases with no outs when he hit Dickinson and walked Bitonti. A passed ball allowed Payne to score and move the other runners into scoring position.
Luis Castillo, the Wisconsin leader in RBI hit a weak grounder to third that was just inside the bag at third for a two-run double to pull the Rattlers to within a run. A walk to Tayden Hall put the winning run on base.
Dicochea got the first out on a strikeout before he was replaced by Griffin Kirn.
Luiyin Alastre stepped in with a crowd of 5,568 urging him on. He hit a slicing line drive ticketed for right-center. However, the excitement of the crowd turned to disappointment as they realized second baseman Gunner Gouldsmith was positioned perfectly. Gouldsmith took a couple steps to his left to snare the liner and turned it into a game-ending double play when he flipped the ball to Camarillo on the second base bag to double up Castillo, who had strayed too far from the bag.
Wisconsin only struck out three times on Sunday as they ended the game 3-for-14 with runners in scoring position and stranded a total of eleven runners.
Sunday’s results in the second half West Division playoff race were not favorable for the Timber Rattlers. The first place Beloit Sky Carp swept a road doubleheader with the West Michigan Whitecaps to run their record this half to 23-13. The surging Peoria Chiefs completed a six-game sweep of the Cedar Rapids Kernels. The Quad Cities River Bandits lost to the Dayton Dragons at home. Those results dropped Wisconsin into a three-way tie with Peoria and Quad Cities at 19-16, 3-1/2 games behind the Sky Carp. There are thirty games remaining in the season for Wisconsin.
The Timber Rattlers are off on Monday. They return to action on Tuesday with game one of a six-game road series against the Sky Carp at ABC Supply Stadium in Beloit. Wande Torres (6-5, 4.85) has been named as the tentative starting pitcher for Wisconsin. Game time is 6:05pm CDT.
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