July 6, 2016 at 2:37 p.m.
Legion: Rebels fend off Cubs 7-5
Legion: Rebels fend off Cubs 7-5
Easton Senoraske and Tyler Blomdahl each collected three hits and Jacob DeMeyer sat down the final seven Cubs he faced as the Rebels knocked of Tomahawk 7-5 in a Great Northern Legion Conference came at Kahle Memorial Field.
"It was a real good, bounceback game for us," Rebels manager Dan Huhnstock said. "The guys played pretty clean baseball tonight and everybody came to play. The whole mental approach and attitude tonight was really positive and it showed on the field."
Blomdahl singled home Brad Comer to give the Rebels (7-4, 4-3 GNLC) the lead in the top of the first inning and Rhinelander never trailed, though Tomahawk stayed within shouting distance much of the way.
The Cubs (5-6, 4-4 GNLC) scored three in the fourth off Senoraske, who started on the hill, to pull within a run at 5-4. The Rebels tacked on an insurance run in the fifth. DeMeyer came in relief in the bottom half of the inning and, after allowing four of the first five batters he faced to reach, was lights out the rest of the way.
Tomahawk's middle-inning rally had no bearing on Rhinelander's pitching setup, according to Huhnstock.
"Our plan was to pitch (Senoraske) four and have J.D. finish it," he said. "We've got to have enough innings to get all of our pitchers some good work."
Jake Ruid singled home Dakota Thompson to pull the Cubs within 7-5 and Tomahawk was threatening for more in the fifth after Nick Baacke singled. But DeMeyer picked off Ruid at second and, following a Riley Tollison walk, got Zach Volz to ground out to first base to get out of the jam.
DeMeyer was perfect in the sixth and seventh. He struck out Cayton Scholz looking to end the sixth and fanned Kaleb Kaminski and Ruid back to back to finish the game.
"He got stronger as he got oiled up good up there," Huhnstock said of DeMeyer, who earned the three-inning save, striking out four.
Tomahawk answered Rhinelander's run in the first on an RBI single by Kaminski in the bottom of the inning. The Rebels took the lead for good in the third, loading the bases with nobody out. Comer brought home a run on a fielder's choice and everybody was safe on the play after Tollison could not handle a throw to third. Blomdahl drew a bases loaded walk and Brad Quade followed with a sacrifice fly to right before Brandon Hess grounded into a inning-ending double play.
Senoraske singled home Josh Randolph in the fourth to put the Rebels ahead 5-1, but Tomahawk rallied with two out in the bottom of the inning. Tollison walked to put runners at the corners before Volz singled to right off Senoraske.
An error by Quade in right allowed Tollison to cross and the Cubs followed with two more hits by Kahle and Eli Wurl, the latter plating Volz, to trim the lead to 5-4.
Blomdahl was thrown out in a close play at home trying to score on a Quade double in the fifth. Quade got to third on the play and came around on Eric Grulke's ground out. Back-to-back errors allowed Tait Spencer to reach base and score.
"That was a very good mental approach at the plate tonight," Huhnstock said of a Rebel offense which collected 11 hits off Kaminski, who took a complete game loss. "Throughout the lineup everyone was contributing. Easton was a real nice leader for us, getting on base two or three times for sure, leading off and setting the tone for us."
Senoraske and Blomdahl accounted for more than half of the Rebels' hit total by themselves. Sophomore-to-be Nate Cogar chipped in two singles to right in two at bats before being replaced in the lineup by DeMeyer.
"Nate stepped in and did a very fine job," Huhnstock said. "He made the plays at second, has some good at-bats for us. I just love to see those young guys step up for us."
The win launched the Rebels into the Fourth of July holiday break on a positive note. They needed every bit of that time off because, beginning Wednesday, the team kicked off a stretch of seven scheduled games over the course of five days.
Rhinelander played at Medford Wednesday afternoon in a game that concluded after deadline. The Rebels are set to host Eagle River in a doubleheader Thursday and then play four games over the weekend in the Merrill Invite.
"We'll find out who can pitch and who can't," Huhnstock said of the upcoming slate. "We'll see some young guys pitching early in the week. We've got a lot of ball ahead of us right now."
Rhinelander will start the Merrill Invite at 5 p.m. Friday with a rematch against Rothschild/Schofield/Weston, which scored three times with two outs in the last of the seventh to defeat Rhinelander 7-6 on June 24 in Schofield. Rhinelander will face Merrill and Holmen in a doubleheader beginning at noon Saturday and will play in the position round of the tournament at either noon or 2:30 p.m. Sunday.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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