By Cooper Perkins

The Wisconsin Rapids Rafters (4-3) used timely hitting and quality pitching to overcome a two-run deficit against the Madison Mallards (6-2) and steal a 4-2 win Tuesday night at Warner Park.

Cameron Busby tossed three and two-thirds of an inning of scoreless relief in route to earning the win and Logan Mattix clubbed a solo home run in the seventh inning to tie the game.

Rafters’ starter Jay Peters fell behind early in the contest after a wild pitch with the bases loaded put the Mallards on the board in the bottom of the first inning. A sacrifice fly two innings later in the third would double the Mallards’ advantage and ran the score to 2-0, a tally that held until the sixth inning.

Finally in the sixth, the Rafters cut into the Mallards’ lead with an RBI groundout from Drew McLaughlin to the right side of the infield. After a scoreless bottom of the frame, the stage was set for the Rats to seize control of the action in the ensuing inning.

Leading off the seventh, center fielder Logan Mattix drove a home run over the left-center field fence to tie the game at two. Several batters later, the Rafters would go on to utilize a run-scoring wild pitch and a sacrifice fly from Ben Fisher to grab a 4-2 lead.

With the potential tying run at home plate and two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, pinch-hitter Lucas Halstead sent a fly ball just short of the warning track in center field that Mattix was able to track down to seal the victory.

The Rafters return home to face the Thunder Bay Border Cats tomorrow night at 7:05pm in the first of a brief two-game home stand before returning to Madison on Friday.

For more information, visit www.raftersbaseball.com.