CEDAR RAPIDS, IA – Ethan Dorchies played the stopper of the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers pitching staff on Friday Night at Veterans Memorial Stadium. The right-hander struck out nine over 6-2/3 scoreless innings, walked one, and allowed just four singles to earn the win the Rattlers 6-0 win over the Cedar Rapids Kernels.
Dorchies was backed up by some timely hitting by the offense, including a big night from the newest Timber Rattler outfielder. The win snapped Wisconsin’s three-game losing streak and pulled them back to within two games of the second-half West Division playoff spot with twenty games left in the season.
Wisconsin (58-49 overall, 24-21 second half) took the lead in the top of the third, the first time they scored first in this series. Sawyer Strosnider singled to start the inning. Luis Castillo drew a two-out walk to extend the inning. Tayden Hall singled to right to score Strosnider for a 1-0 lead.
Strosnider started another Wisconsin rally in the fifth with a lead-off double. Daniel Dickinson followed with a double to score Strosnider.
Hall made it 3-0 with an RBI grounder later in the inning.
Hall is the latest Rattler to reach the fifty-RBI mark this season. His two on Friday night pushed his total to 51 in 2026.
Dorchies dealt against the Kernels (44-66, 13-33). He matched his professional single-game high for strikeouts with nine, including four in a row to get the last two batters of the sixth inning and the first two batters of the seventh. Dorchies walked Jayson Bass on a 3-2 pitch in the seventh to end his night. He made 90 pitches with 56 strikes.
Chandler Welch took over and got the final out of the seventh.
The Rattlers offense provided an additional cushion with a two-out rally in their half of the eighth inning. Blayberg Diaz reached on an error, Luis Peña reached on a dropped third strike, and a wild pitch moved both runners into scoring position. Strosnider singled to right to drive in both runners.
Dickinson provided the final run of the rally with a double to left-center. His second run-scoring double of the night gave him his 23rd multi-hit game and his tenth multi-RBI game of the season.
Welch pitched a scoreless eighth and José Meneses worked a scoreless ninth to close out the win for Wisconsin.
Strosnider, the second round pick of the Milwaukee Brewers in the 2026 draft, has hit the ground running since making his pro debut with the Rattlers on Tuesday for game of this series. He was 3-for-4 with a walk, a double, two RBI, and three runs scored on Friday. He has at least one hit in all four of his games with the Rattlers and is 7-for-18 (.389) with four RBI. Friday was also his first start in center field after the promotion of Braylon Payne to Biloxi, the Double-A Southern League affiliate of the Brewers, earlier in the day.
In the playoff push, the Rattlers have a new team to try to chase down. The Quad Cities River Bandits staged a late comeback for a 5-4, walkoff win over the Fort Wayne TinCaps at home on Friday. Quad Cities has overtaken Beloit Sky Carp, who were idle on Friday after their game at Peoria was postponed by poor field conditions at Dozer Park. Quad Cities at 25-18 is .003 percentage points ahead of 26-19 Beloit. The Rattlers, who have twenty games left in the season, are two game behind both teams. Quad Cities and Beloit both play a doubleheader on Saturday night.
Game five of the series is set for Saturday night at Veterans Memorial Stadium. Wande Torres (7-5, 4.62) is the scheduled starting pitcher for the Timber Rattlers. Cesar Lares (0-5, 3.00) is set to start for the Kernels. Game time is 6:35pm. Newstalk 93.9 WOSH and internet audio has the radio broadcast starting with the Community Blood Center Pregame Show at 6:15pm