For the Rapids City Times

WISCONSIN RAPIDS – The Rafters are coming off a 2018 campaign where they finished with 34 wins and ended up just shy of the playoff picture. The 2019 season will be one of most exciting in recent history due to the fact it will be the franchises 10th anniversary season.

Wisconsin Rapids will open their season on the road against the Rockford Rivets on May 28. This season will see the addition of two franchises joining the Northwoods League. Each of the 22 teams will play a 72-game regular season.

With the additional teams – Traverse City Beach Bums and Kokomo Jackrabbits – the League has decided to realign each division. The North and South titles have been replaced with the Great Lakes and Great Plains Divisions. Each division is divided into two subdivisions, which are separated by an East and West. This breaks down as follows: Great Plains West – Bismarck, Mankato, Rochester, St. Cloud, and Willmar; Great Plains East – Duluth, Eau Claire, La Crosse, Thunder Bay, and Waterloo; Great Lakes West – Fond du Lac, Green Bay, Lakeshore, Madison, Wisconsin, and Wisconsin Rapids; and Great Lakes East – Battle Creek, Kalamazoo, Kenosha, Kokomo, Rockford, and Traverse City.

The league plays two halves to determine playoff participants, with the first half ending on July 3. The 2019 Northwoods League All-Star game will take place in Waterloo, IA on July 16. The 2019 All-Star game will be the 25th All-Star game in the league’s history.