July 9, 2014 at 3:11 p.m.
Rhinelander I outlasts Rhinelander II for Babe Ruth regular season title
Rhinelander I outlasts Rhinelander II for Babe Ruth regular season title
Kurt Zuiker pitched out of a bases-loaded, nobody-out jam in the bottom of the seventh as Rhinelander I edged Rhinelander II 5-3 for the championship at Stafford Field.
The game came down to hitting with runners in scoring position. Rhinelander I was 3 for 9. Rhinelander II went 0 for 14 and left 11 men on base. Rhinelander II had the bases loaded with less than two out on four separate occasions. They managed only two runs out of those situations.
There was a golden opportunity for Rhinelander II in the bottom of the seventh as Zuiker walked Seth Mathews, Owen White and Trey Gwin in succession to load the bases for the meat of the order. Three pitches later the game was over.
Reese Flores fouled out to left then Logan Freund hit a fly ball to shallow center. The ball dropped in front of Brandon Hess, but Hess had time to pick it up and throw Mathews - who had tagged up at third - out at the plate. Bradley Comer popped out to second to end the game.
Rhinelander I took the lead in the top of the first as Zuiker led off with a walk. He stole second, advanced to third on Hess' sacrifice bunt and scored on a John Huempfner single to left.
Kenny Baumgardner and Cole Jensen struck out in succession as Rhinelander II could not cash in on a bases-loaded situation in the second. They loaded the bases again in the third as White walked, Gwin singled and Flores reached on a error. They plated a run to tie the game as Freund bounced into a fielder's choice to short, but Comer flew out to center to end the inning.
A Connor Cooper single and back-to-back walks by Tim Remitz and Jacob Mahner loaded the bases for Rhinelander I in the top of the fifth and Zuiker put his team ahead for good with a two-run single past second with the infield drawn in. Cody Sedlacek added a two-run single in the sixth, scoring Bryce Young and Tim Palubicki, who both walked earlier in the inning.
Rhinelander II answered with single runs in the fifth and the sixth. Jensen led off the fifth with a single, stole second and later scored on a bizarre play. Gwin drew a two-out walk on a 3-2 pitch while Jensen broke for home on the play. Caught in a rundown, Jensen darted back to third, then back home and made it safely as Zuiker was tardy covering the plate. Gwin tried to make it to third amid the confusion, but Zuiker corralled the ball near the backstop and rifled it the bag to record the final out of the inning.
Rhinelander II found itself in a familiar situation in the sixth - bases loaded with one out - with Freund, Comer and Seth Hargraves on base. Travis Young hit a blooper to right that dropped, scoring Freund, and Hargraves made it to second when the throw from right sailed wide of the bag. That's all the damage Rhinelander II would do in the inning as Baumgardner struck out and Jensen flew out to end the threat.
Sedlacek, out of the No. 8 hole in the Rhinelander I lineup, produced two of the team's five hits. Zuiker, Huempfner and Cooper had the others. Rhinelander II managed four hits - a second-inning double by Comer and singles by Gwin, Flores and Jensen.
Hess pitched four innings to earn the win for Rhinelander I, scattering a pair of hits and an unearned run with a pair of strikeouts. Zuiker allowed only one hit over the final three innings - Jensen's leadoff single in the fifth - but the lefty issued six walks before securing the save.
Freund took the loss for Rhinelander II. He was plagued by five walks and a pair of hit batters over five innings. He allowed three earned runs on four hits with a couple of strikeouts. Gwin walked three and gave up two runs in the sixth. White worked around a walk and an error in the seventh to get out of the inning unscathed.
Rhinelander I (11-2) and Rhinelander II (9-4) got into the regular season title game by virtue of having the best records in the 11-team Northwoods Babe Ruth senior league, which also includes teams from Eagle River, Lakeland, Merrill, Nokomis and Tomahawk. The two teams had split their two previous meetings. Rhinelander I won 4-2 on June 6. Rhinelander II took the rematch 9-8 on July 1.
Rhinelander has four teams in the league - Rhinelander III (8-4) and Laser Pros International (8-4) are the others - who finished with the top four records and will be the top four seeds when the senior league tournament begins next week.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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