(WISCONSIN TIMBER RATTLERS) GRAND CHUTE, WI – The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers won a game and tossed the East Division first-half playoff race into chaos with a 7-3 decision over the Great Lakes Loons on Sunday afternoon at Neuroscience Group Field.
Great Lakes (35-26) broke through in the top of the first inning. Eduardo Quintero doubled with one out. Emil Morales drove in Quintero with a two-out single to center for the 1-0 lead.
The Loons added to their lead in the second. Samuel Munoz doubled to start the inning. Jose Izarra doubled with two outs to knock in Munoz.
Wisconsin (33-26) evened the score with single runs in the second and third innings. Tayden Hall got the Rattlers on the scoreboard with a lead-off home run to right-center. Daniel Dickinson tied the game with a two-out, bloop double to left in the third to score David Garcia.
The Rattlers rallied to take the lead in the bottom of the fourth as the first three hitters reached base. Hall walked and went to third on a single by Daniel Guilarte. Luis Castillo made it 3-2 with a single to send Hall across the plate and get Guilarte to third. Andrick Nava added a run with a sacrifice fly for a 4-2 lead.
Jayden Dubanewicz, the Rattlers starting pitcher making his Midwest League debut, allowed an unearned run in the top of the fifth but nothing else. Izarra singled with one out and went to second on a misplay by Castillo in left. Chuck Davalan had an RBI single to knock in Izarra to cut Wisconsin’s lead to one run.
Dubanewicz would end the inning with no more damage. His five innings of work on Sunday was his longest outing as a professional. The right-hander walked none and scattered six hits while striking out five to put himself in line for the win.
Braylon Payne provided insurance for the Rattlers with a three-run home run over the Great Lakes bullpen. Payne has twelve homers for Wisconsin this season.
Quinton Low took over for Dubanewicz in the top of the sixth inning and pitched three scoreless, hitless innings with a walk and five strikeouts.
Garrett Hodges pitched a scoreless ninth to close out a series win for the Rattlers, who took four of the six games played in the series. Wisconsin also took the season series from the Loons by winning seven of the eleven meetings.
The Rattlers, who were eliminated from playoff contention in the West Division first-half playoff race on Saturday, made things very interesting for the top three teams in the East with three days left in the first half. The Dayton Dragons won and the Lake County Captains had their game rained out on Sunday afternoon. The Loons and Captains, who have four games at Dow Diamond starting Tuesday, are tied with a record of 35-26. Dayton (36-27) is just .003 behind the teams tied at the top with three games at Peoria to end the half.
Wisconsin is off on Monday. They will return to action on Tuesday with game one of a six-game series against the Quad Cities River Bandits at Modern Woodmen Park. Braylon Owens (2-0, 4.26) has been announced as the starting pitcher for the Rattlers on Tuesday. Game time in Davenport, Iowa is set for 6:30pm.
Saturday’s game
The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers lost 3-1 to the Great Lakes Loons Saturday night at Neuroscience Group Field. Wisconsin had several opportunities early in the game but could not break through until after the Loons had taken a 2-0 lead on solo homers by a pair top prospects in baseball.
Charles Davalan, the #7 prospect in the Los Angeles Dodgers system, put the Loons (35-25) in the lead with a lead-off home run in the top of the third inning. Davalan, who is rated as the #94 prospect in Minor League Baseball, has eight homers this season with two of them against the Rattlers.
Eduardo Quintero, the #3 Dodgers prospect according to the MLB Pipeline, made the score 2-0 with a one-out, solo homer in the fifth. Quintero is the #35 overall prospect in MiLB and has hit three homers in 2026 with the Loons.
Wisconsin (32-26) stranded seven runners and were 0-for-8 through the first five innings of the game. Josiah Ragsdale singled and Andrew Fischer doubled to start the bottom of the first. Great Lakes starter Brooks Auger ended the threat with a popup and two strikeouts. In the second, Auger walked two with one out before getting an inning-ending 1-6-3 double play. Ragsdale singled, stole second, and went to third on a throwing error with no outs in the third. Auger stranded him there by retiring the next three batters.
Ragsdale started a two-out rally in the fifth against Reynaldo Yean with a single, his third hit of the game. Fischer singled to put runners on the corners and chase Yean from the game. Alex Makarewicz took over on the mound for the Loons and walked Josh Adamczewski to load the bases before getting a strikeout to end the inning.
Eric Bitonti got the Rattlers on the scoreboard with a lead-off home run in the sixth against Isaac Ayon, the Loons fourth pitcher of the night. Bitonti has nine homers on the season with this one bringing the team to within a run.
Peyton Niksch, who gave up the homer to Quintero, kept the Rattlers close with a scoreless seventh and went back out for the eighth. Two walks and a force play at third left the Loons with runners at first and second with one out. Victor Rodrigues, a prime double play candidate, hit a sharp grounder right at second baseman Juan Baez. However, Baez couldn’t handle the ball and hit kicked away from him into right field. The runner from second scored an insurance run for a 3-1 lead.
Ayon retired the Rattlers in order in the eighth and got the first out of the ninth. Wisconsin called on Marco Dinges to pinch hit. This was where tempers flared.
Dinges hit a weak grounder up the first base line. Ayon raced over, grabbed the ball, and tagged Dinges for the second out. Words were exchange between the two. Ayon stepped back, threw his glove and the baseball behind him, and put up his dukes before immediately dropping them back down to his sides. Dinges had to be restrained as the benches and bullpens cleared. Both Ayon and Dinges were ejected from the game, and order was eventually restored. Davis Chastain entering the game and recording an anticlimactic final out for the save.
The South Bend Cubs had won earlier in the evening to clinch the West Division First Half title. The Rattlers and the other four teams in the division will start the second half of the season on Friday, June 19 to fight for the right to face the Cubs in the first round of the Midwest League playoffs.
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