West Michigan Pulls Away From Wisconsin

GRAND CHUTE, WI - The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers hung with the West Michigan Whitecaps for seven innings on Saturday night at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium, but the Whitecaps scored five times in the top of the eighth inning to pull away for a 10-3 victory over the Rattlers.

The Whitecaps (65-29 overall, 20-7 second half) took the lead in the top of the second inning. Danny Pinero singled with one out. Wisconsin starting pitcher Nattino Diplan walked the next two batters on nine pitches to load the bases. Chad Sedio unloaded the bases with a double to the corner in right field and West Michigan was up 3-0.

Wisconsin (38-59, 12-17) staged a two-out rally against West Michigan starting pitcher Gregory Soto in the third inning. Carlos Belonis walked, Keston Hiura singled and Weston Wilson walked to load the bases. Then, Joantgel Segovia's grounder to third was misplayed for an error and Belonis scored.

West Michigan answered right away in the top of the fourth. Dylan Burdeaux singled to start the inning. Sedio, who had four hits and five RBI in the game, followed with a two-run homer to left and the Whitecaps were up 5-1.

Soto struck out eight over his five innings of work and turned the 5-1 lead over to the West Michigan bullpen.

Demi Orimoloye got the Timber Rattlers to within two runs when he unloaded on a 1-0 pitch from Locke St. John for a two-run homer off the scoreboard above the wall in left-center with two outs. It was Orimoloye's ninth home run of the season.

Wisconsin reliever Cameron Roegner kept the Rattlers offense within striking distance with four scoreless innings out of the bullpen. The left-hander allowed three hits and struck out five. Roegner has allowed one earned run in fifteen innings pitched since the Midwest League All-Star break.

The Whitecaps, the team with the best record in the Midwest League, put the game away in the eighth inning as they scored five runs off Wisconsin reliever Alec Kenilvort, who was making his Timber Rattlers debut. Burdeaux doubled and Sedio singled to start the inning. Kenilvort got the first out, but hit Danny Woodrow to load the bases. Cole Bauml drove in Burdeaux with a sacrifice fly for a 6-3 lead.

Austin Athman followed with a single to left to score Sedio from second base. The throw to the plate was late and that allowed the both Woodrow and Athman to move into scoring position. That proved costly as Anthony Pereira reached on an infield single with the throw to first got away to allow two more runs to score. Another single kept the inning alive and Zack Shepherd closed out the scoring with another single that sent Pereira home for a 10-3 lead.

The Timber Rattlers went down in order in both the eighth and ninth innings.

Hiura went 3-for-4 with a double for the Timber Rattlers. He is 7-for-16 with at least one hit in each of his first four games with Wisconsin.
Game two of the series is Sunday afternoon. Victor Diaz (0-3, 4.58) is set to be the starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. Spenser Watkins (6-2, 2.49) has been named as West Michigan's starter. Game time is 1:05pm.
The Timber Rattlers and the Hispanic Center of the Fox Valley invite fans to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Day at the ballpark. There will be pregame performances by Mariachi Mexico Lindo and Grupo Azteca Tonantzin. 

The first 1,000 fans to attend this game will receive a bobblehead of former Timber Rattler Yadiel Rivera, who was the shortstop during Wisconsin's 2012 championship season, courtesy of U. S. Cellular.

Timber Rattlers players and coaches will wear their Brewers-themed jerseys during the game as part of Brewers Sunday with Rasmussen College and Star 98. Fans may play catch on-field for thirty minutes courtesy of Rasmussen College starting at noon. Players will be available for a postgame autograph session sponsored by Tundraland.
If you can't make it out to the ballpark, there are several ways to follow the action. The radio broadcast is on AM1280, WNAM starting with the Potawatomi Hotel & Casino Pregame Show at 12:45pm. The broadcast is also available on TuneIn Radio, IHeartRadio, and MiLB.tv.