Rattlers storm back to beat Kane County

GRAND CHUTE, WI - The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers spotted the Kane County Cougars a four run lead in the top of the first inning before rallying to an 11-5 victory on Thursday afternoon at Time Warner Cable Field. Joey Paciorek went 3-for-5 with a homer and four RBI and Mike Walker was 4-for-4 as the Rattlers won for the fifth time in their last six games.

Rattlers starting pitcher Matt Miller had a shaky start. The first five Kane County batters of the game reached base and four of them scored. The Cougars (37-46 overall, 9-5 second half) loaded the bases on a pair of singles and a walk. The first run scored on a passed ball charged to Paciorek. A double by Brian Fletcher scored one run. Then, an error let in another run and put runners on the corners with no outs.

Miller got Kevin David to ground into a 4-6-3 double play that - while it allowed a run to score for a 4-0 lead - stopped the inning from snowballing into an even bigger lead. Miller would strike out Orlando Calixte to end the inning. From that point of the game to the time his outing was over at the end of the sixth, Miller would only one more hit and no more runs.

Wisconsin (46-38, 8-6) started their comeback in the bottom of the second inning. Walker tripled to start the inning. Cody Hawn extended his current hitting streak to eight games with an RBI single. Later in the inning, Nick Shaw made the score 4-3 with a two-out, two-run double.

Paciorek gave the Rattlers the lead in the bottom of the third. There were two on with two out and the Rattlers catcher lined a home run to left and Wisconsin was up 6-4.

Wisconsin tacked on another run in the inning. Chad Stang singled and went to third on a Franklin Romero a single. Shaw was at the plate when Romero got caught in a rundown. Stang broke for the plate and scored before Romero could be tagged for the final out of the inning.

Stang and Romero padded Wisconsin's lead with consecutive RBI hits in the bottom of the fifth inning to make the score 9-4.

Paciorek cracked a double in the bottom of the seventh to score Walker. That hit gave Paciorek four RBI in the game.

The Cougars got to the Rattlers bullpen for a run in the top of the eighth inning. Then, Walker responded with his fourth hit of the game. Walker's single scored TJ Mittelstaedt to account for the final 11-5 score.

The Rattlers and Cougars conclude the series on Friday night at Time Warner Cable Field. Maverick Lasker (0-1, 5.40) is the scheduled starting pitcher for Wisconsin. Kane County sends Greg Billo (6-1, 1.49) to the mound. Game time is 7:05pm.

Friday night is a North Shore Bank/95.9 KISS Family Night at Time Warner Cable Field. That means children 12 and under eat free. After the game, enjoy a fireworks display! After the fireworks, Fazoli's invites children 14 and under to participate in Kids Run the Bases.

Also on Friday night, the first 1,000 fans to attend the game will receive a Timber Rattlers baseball cap from North Shore Bank.

If you can't make it out to the game, tune in on AM1280, WNAM or timberrattlers.com starting with the Miller Lite Pregame Show at 6:45pm.

HOME RUN:
WIS:
Joey Paciorek (1st, 2 on in 3rd inning, off Leondy Perez, 2 out)

WP: Matt Miller (4-2)
LP: Leondy Perez (2-9)

TIME: 3:00
ATTN: 3,334