Dock Spiders Outduel the Rafters 3-1

he Dock Spiders start off the second half of the Northwoods League season in the win column after a hard fought, defensive game went the way of Fond du Lac after a 14 strikeout performance by Noah Wech and Luke Parise.

In the first game of the second half, the defenses of both the Dock Spiders and the Rafters came up big. The Rafters would find the scoring column in the opening inning but were held scoreless in the following eight frames by a top-tier pitching duo of Noah Wech and Luke Parise who held the Rafters to only two hits in the entire game. The Dock Spiders were down 1-0 up until the bottom of the fifth where James Hankerson Jr. batted home Jalen Gellings to tie the game. Fond du Lac would strike again in the sixth and the eighth to pull away in the defensive battle.

The top performer on the night for the Dock Spiders was Noah Wech who went seven innings and threw a single game-high in the 2025 campaign of 102 pitches. Wech also set a single game-high for the 2025 Dock Spiders with 12 strikeouts on the night. Overall, Wech only gave up two hits, one walk and one unearned run in one of the best starts from a Dock Spider in recent memory. 

Also dealing on the mound was Dock Spider closer Luke Parise who earned a team-high fifth save after two innings of work with no hits, no runs and two strikeouts on eight batters faced. 

Offensively no Dock Spider found the hit column multiple times as Fond du Lac was held to six hits on the night. TP Wentworth, Jonathan Fitz and Landon Mensik each knocked a double to greatly help the Dock Spiders offense which faced a stout pitching rotation from Wisconsin Rapids that struck out 13 Dock Spiders. 

Fond du Lac starts off with a win in the second half as they look to turn it into momentum as they take on the Rafters tomorrow to close out the two-game series at Herr-Baker Field. 

Next game for the Dock Spiders is tomorrow, July 2 at 6:35 p.m. CT which falls on a Caleb Durbin Jersey Giveaway promotion where the first 500 fans through the gates will receive a Caleb Durbin replica jersey courtesy of LEB Insurance Group.