July 10, 2013 at 1:53 p.m.
Snowhawks defeat Dazzle's Demons 19-9
Dazzle's Demons feature several Rhinelander players
Snowhawks defeat Dazzle's Demons 19-9
By Jim Oxley-
"Monday was a special evening for all the players and fans as a special tribute was paid to the late Dennis 'Dazzle' Robinson," manager Don Hilgendorf said. "Dazzle was a longtime snowshoe player. He left us last year suddenly and his children Jesse, Jamie and Jodi - all Rhinelander area natives - made up the Dazzle's Demons team which included other relatives and former teammates."
The Demons started off the action with a single from Nate Schmidt in the top of the first. He would advance to third before scoring on a sacrifice fly from Jamie Robinson. The Snowhawks would get a double play to end the inning trailing 1-0.
After two quick outs in the bottom of the first, Tom Ziemba reached first base on an error and Dave Maize reached on a fielder's choice. Alex Bailey and Cole Punches would double and then single to score Ziemba and Maize, and the Snowhawks took the lead 2-1.
After a quick half inning for the Demons, Derrick Young walked, Craig Holmquist doubled, and Bryan Jacquest walked to load the bases for the Snowhawks in the bottom of the second. Billy Kuckkahn hit a ground rule double to send two runs to the plate and the Snowhawks picked up two more runs to take a 6-1 lead.
The Snowhawks surrendered a sole hit to Austin Murphy in the third inning, but Holmquist struck out two Demons batters on the way to another quick half inning. Maize and Bailey each reached base on errors to start the bottom of the third, and Maize scored from third base on a sacrifice fly from Punches. Bailey later scored off a single from Todd Niemuth, and Holmquist sent Niemuth home on another single, giving the Snowhawks a 9-1 advantage.
Schmidt and Tyler Henkel hit back-to-back doubles to add a run in the fourth inning, and the Demons got three quick outs in the bottom of the inning to close the gap to 9-2 heading to the fifth. Randy Robinson would score after a lead-off single on a sacrifice from Austin Murphy, and the Snowhawks headed to the bottom of the fifth with a 9-3 lead.
The Snowhawks picked up five runs in the fifth when Ziemba, Bailey, Punches, Niemuth and Young all found their way on base and came around to score, putting the Snowhawks up 14-3.
The Demons came back with a big sixth inning. Matt Furyk and Jodi Robinson hit consecutive singles and came around to score. Henkel and Jamie Robinson would reach base later in the inning, and both scored off a single from Ben Ives. The Demons narrowed the score to 14-7 heading to the bottom of the sixth, where they worked around a Ziemba single to hold the Snowhawks scoreless.
Jesse Drossart led off the seventh inning for the Demons, reaching base on an error. He would score on a double by Furyk, and the Snowhawks took a 14-8 lead to the bottom of the inning.
Bailey started the Snowhawks' seventh with a single and would eventually score on a fielder's choice. Niemuth also singled, and scored on Holmquist's third RBI of the game.
Trailing 16-8, the Demons started off the eighth with a single from Schmidt. He would score his third run of the day on a sacrifice fly from Jesse Robinson, but the run would be the Demons' last. Moore and Ziemba hit back-to-back doubles to begin the eighth for the Snowhawks, and Maize hit a deep home run to score Ziemba, giving the Snowhawks the victory with a final score of 19-9.
The night was special for those remembering Dennis "Dazzle" Robinson, and the Robinson family helped the Snowhawks kick off a new fundraising campaign.
"The family, in turn, presented Snowshoe Baseball with a check from his memorial to start the next Snowhawk project - new bleachers," Hilgendorf said. "This fund will be known as 'Dazzle's Bleacher Fund.'"
Hilgendorf thanked all those who attended the game and helped raise money for the new fund.
"We want to thank all the fans for filling the bleachers on Dazzle's night," he said.
Jim Oxley may be reached via email at [email protected].
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