July 12, 2013 at 3:37 p.m.
Rhinelander III wins Senior League title in slugfest
Rhinelander III wins Senior League title in slugfest
Then, suddenly, it wasn't.
Trailing 19-3, and one out away from being done in by the mercy rule, the Tomahawk Hatchets mustered a fierce comeback before falling 20-13 to the Hodags in seven innings.
Six consecutive batters reached base for the Hatchets with two outs in the bottom of the fifth and Chris Harper's two-run single made the score 19-10, ensuring at least one more inning of baseball.
Rhinelander III plated one more run in the top of the sixth, but the Hatchets struck back with three of their own, including a two-run triple by Jakob Panzer to extend the game to the seventh. Neither team scored in the seventh as Rhinelander III won its second consecutive Senior League crown.
The Hodags committed three errors in the first inning, and trailed 2-1, but seized control of the game for good with a six-run second. Cole Jensen started the rally with a one-out double, the first of his three hits on the night. Dylan Roeser hit an infield single, beating out an errant throw from shortstop. The error allowed Jensen to score. Charlie Wabick singled in Roeser and back-to-back walks loaded the bases for Jacob DeMeyer, who also walked, forcing in a run. Will Taege scored on an error, Brandon Hess scored Adam Mueller with a groundout and DeMeyer scored from third when Kurt Zuiker was caught in a rundown between first and second.
Jensen reached on a fielder's choice and scored on an error in the third to make it 8-2 and the Hodags tacked on four more in the fourth. Ben Quade delivered a two-run, two-out single, putting runners at the corners. Quade stole second and Zuiker scored when the throw from home sailed into centerfield. Quade would eventually score thanks to another error.
Seven more runs came across for the Hodags in the fifth. Hess and Quade each had two-run singles that inning. Roeser, DeMeyer and Jensen each had RBI hits.
That gave Rhinelander III a 19-2 lead before the Hatchets mounted their rally.
It was a fitting title game for the teams with the two best offenses during the regular season. Rhinelander III averaged 9.8 runs per game. The Hatchets averaged 9.1 runs.
Rhinelander III pounded out 13 hits in all. Ten walks and nine Hatchet errors further helped the Hodags' cause. Jensen finished 3-for-4 and a home run short of the cycle for Rhinelander III. Roeser also had a three-hit night. Quade went 2-for-4 and drove in four runs. Hess was 1-for-5 with four RBIs. DeMeyer added two hits and three RBIs. Wabick also collected two hits.
Hess started for Rhinelander and limited Tomahawk to two unearned runs on three hits over four innings. He struck out three and only walked one. He was unable to pitch the fifth after reaching the limit of seven innings pitched in a three-day span. DeMeyer came on in the fifth and earned the save by virtue of pitching three innings, despite allowing 11 runs.
Rhinelander III posted the best record in the regular season, going 12-2. As the No. 1 seed for the tournament, Rhinelander III received a first-round bye and defeated Rhinelander I 7-4 Monday to earn a spot in the title game. The Hatchets, who were the No. 3 seed with a 7-7 regular season record, defeated Rhinelander-Laser Pros 14-10 Saturday and Rhinelander II 14-3 Monday to reach the title game.
Rhinelander III will play one more game for the league's regular season title. As the winners of the Carlson Division, Rhinelander III will face the Tomahawk Cardinals (10-4), who won the Pohnl Division, for the title July 17 at Stafford Field.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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