GRAND CHUTE, WI – Jadher Areinamo celebrated the end of his brief stay on the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers injured list with a big Friday night at Neuroscience Group Field. Areinamo, playing in his first game since July 25, had three hits, including a home run, and two RBI to lead the Rattlers to a 4-2 victory over the South Bend Cubs. The win snapped a brief two-game losing streak for the Rattlers.
South Bend (39-60 overall, 12-21 second half) had chances to score in the first two innings. Brett Bateman started the game with a double but was left stranded at third when the inning ended. Wisconsin starting pitcher K.C. Hunt walked Parker Chavers to start the second inning. Jordan Nwogu followed with a double to the corner in left. Chavers tried to score on the play but was cut down at the plate on a perfect relay from left fielder Jheremy Vargas to shortstop Cooper Pratt to catcher Matt Wood. Hunt retired the next two batters to keep the game scoreless.
The game was not scoreless for long after that.
Eduardo Garcia and Tayden Hall singled with one out in the bottom of the second to put runners on the corners. Then, Vargas doubled to left to score Garcia for a 1-0 lead.
Areinamo, who had been activated off the Wisconsin injured list earlier in the day and doubled in the first inning, hit a home run to left in the third inning to give the Timber Rattlers a 2-0 advantage. The home run was Areinamo’s eighth of the season.
Hunt left after five scoreless innings. He walked one and struck out six.
The Rattlers added some insurance in the bottom of the fifth inning. Luis Lara was hit by a pitch, stole second, and went to third on a single by Cooper Pratt. Areinamo singled, his third hit of the game, to score Lara and send Pratt to third. Luke Adams made it 4-0 with a sacrifice fly to score Pratt.
Mark Manfredi took over for Hunt in the top of the sixth inning but walked three while striking out one against the first four batters he faced. A fielder’s choice off the bat of Chavers got a run in and kept the bases loaded. Nwogu was next and his line drive deflected off both Manfredi on the mound and Garcia near the second base bag to Pratt at short, who was able to get the out at first. A run scored on the play to cut Wisconsin’s lead to two runs. That led to Bayden Root being called into the game from the Wisconsin bullpen.
Root got the final out of the sixth and pitched a scoreless seventh to maintain the 4-2 lead.
Jeferson Figueroa made his Timber Rattlers debut with a perfect eighth inning. Aaron Rund closed out the game with a 1-2-3 ninth, including a pair of strikeouts, for his sixth save of the season.
Wisconsin stole three bases in the game with Lara, Matt Wood, and Adams each stealing one. Lara’s stolen base was his thirtieth of the year. The Timber Rattlers have 202 stolen bases this season. This is the second Wisconsin team since the franchise came into existence in 1995 to steal 200 or more bases in a season. The 2001 Rattlers hold the franchise record with 245 steals.
The teams will play a doubleheader on Saturday at Neuroscience Group Field to make up the game that was rained out on Thursday. The game one pitching matchup is Will Rudy (3-6, 4.83) as the starter for Wisconsin against Grant Kipp (0-2, 10.97) for South Bend. The nightcap has Brian Fitzpatrick (3-1, 3.09) as the starter for the Rattlers facing Jaxon Wiggins (0-1, 11.37) for the Cubs. Game one starts at 5:10pm.
Saturday is the first day of Shantymen Weekend at the stadium with a ticket package that includes a ticket to the game and a Shantymen Replica Jersey. However, in game one of the doubleheader, the Timber Rattlers will wear the Harry Potter jersey they were supposed to wear on Thursday. In game two, players and coaches will wear their Shantymen jerseys. Both jerseys available in an online auction at this link.
The first 1,000 fans to attend this doubleheader will receive a Shantymen Whiffer Bobblehead from Dairy Queen of Appleton. Gates to the stadium open at 4:30pm.
Post-game fireworks are courtesy of Sadoff Iron & Metal Company. Kids aged twelve and under may run the bases courtesy of Meijer after the fireworks.
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