The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers had a grand time at Dow Diamond against the Great Lakes Loons on Thursday night. Marco Dinges and Andrick Nava both hit grand slams and Chandler Welch earned his fifth win of the season with solid relief work for a 14-5 victory.
Wisconsin (22-17) had a great opportunity in the first inning when Loons starting pitcher Jakob Wright walked the first two batters of the inning. The Rattlers could not score after a popup, a force play at second, and a strikeout.
There were two outs with none on in the bottom of the first as Wisconsin starter J.D. Thompson struck out the first two Loons in the frame. Thompson hit Chuck Davalan, threw a wild pitch, and gave up an RBI single to Nico Perez for the Loons first run. Perez stole second to get into scoring position and scored when Jose Meza doubled off the glove of first baseman Eric Bitonti.
Josh Adamczewski prevented a third run in the inning when the left fielder fielded a single by Eduardo Guerrero and threw out Meza, who was trying to score from second, at the plate to end the first. Great Lakes (26-18) would not score again until the ninth inning
The Rattlers started their comeback in the second inning. Josiah Ragsdale and Daniel Dickinson reached on walks to start the frame. A double steal moved them both into scoring position. A wild pitch by Wright let Ragsdale score.
Ragsdale and Dickinson both reached on walks to open the fourth. Ragsdale was thrown out at the plate for the second out on a grounder to third by Nava and it looked like the chance to tie the game would be missed. However, Braylon Payne kept the inning alive when he drew a walk to load the bases. That brought Dinges to the plate and his towering drive to left had just enough to clear the yellow line for his sixth homer of the season and a 5-2 lead on the slam.
Wisconsin wasn’t done. Andrew Fischer walked to continue the frame. Adamczewski lined a double to left to score Fischer for a 6-2 lead.
In the fifth, Dickinson walked, stole second, stole third, and just beat a throw home off a grounder to first by Payne. Then, Juan Baez scored on a passed ball for an 8-2 advantage.
Fischer and Adamczewski were hit by pitches to start the sixth inning. Bitonti drove them both in with a double to right.
Nava stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and one out in the eighth. Reliever Reynaldo Yean walked the first three batters of the inning and was replaced by position player Jose Hernandez, who got the first out on a flyout to center. Nava ambushed the first pitch from Hernandez and lined a homer over the wall in right. The home run was the first by Nava since June 2, 2024 when he was with Jersey Shore in the Philadelphia Phillies organization.
Thompson retired eight in a row after the single by Guerrero in the first inning. He would leave in favor of Welch after giving up a two-out walk and a single in the fourth inning. Thompson struck out four over 3-2/3 innings
Welch got the final out of the fourth, worked around a one-out single in the fifth, was helped out on a double play to end the sixth, and stranded two runners in the seventh. Welch left the game after getting checked out by the training staff with a runner on and one out in the eighth. Welch also had four strikeouts over 3-2/3 innings.
Ayendy Bravo, in his Timber Rattlers debut, ended the eighth with a 6-4-3 double play.
Bravo got the first two outs of the ninth before allowed two singles and a walk to load the bases. Emil Morales lined an 0-2 pitch to the corner in left for a three-run double to account for the final score. Bravo ended the game moments later on a flyout to center.
Great Lakes pitchers walked fourteen on Thursday night. Ragsdale and Dickinson each drew three walks and had a single to be on base four times. Dickinson scored three runs to go along with his three stolen bases.
Game four of the series is Friday night at Dow Diamond. Josh Knoth is set to make his Midwest League debut as the starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. Great Lakes has named Christian Zazueta (1-1, 4.50) as their starting pitcher. Game time is 5:05pm CDT.
