July 8, 2016 at 1:25 p.m.
Legion: Medford scores 15 in sixth, beats Rebels 25-15
Legion: Medford scores 15 in sixth, beats Rebels 25-15
Unfortunately for the Rhinelander Post 7 Rebels, Wednesday afternoon's Great Northern Legion Conference contest at Medford was not most baseball games.
Medford matched Rhinelander's run total in the sixth inning alone and defeated the Rebels 25-15 at Medford High School in what was easily the highest-scoring game in the GNLC's inaugural season.
"It was a high-scoring affair and, unfortunately, we ended up on the short end," Rebels manager Dan Huhnstock said.
Rhinelander led 15-10 heading into the bottom of the sixth when the wheels fell off. The Raiders sent 19 batters to the plate in the final inning, and collected only four hits. Nine walks, three hit batsmen and an error doomed the Rebels as Medford did most of its damage following a double play ball hit by Nate Gradberg. The Rebels still led 15-14 at the time of the twin killing, but back-to-back walks by Jacob DeMeyer allowed the tying run to score. Kolten Hanson then singled to give Medford the lead. Kurt Zuiker replaced DeMeyer on the hill after that but failed to retire any of the nine batters he faced before the game ended via the 10-run rule.
"They just really had an inning on us. It didn't matter who I brought into pitch, we couldn't throw strikes," Huhnstock said. "When we did, they hit it."
Rhinelander ran through three pitchers in the sixth inning alone, and five overall in the contest, after Brad Comer started and went four innings.
"We ran through Nick (Spencer), Jacob DeMeyer, Kurt Zuiker, Brandon Hess. We just couldn't get anybody out in that last inning," Huhnstock said."
The game was a slugfest from the onset. The Rebels scored twice in the top of the first as Easton Senoraske singled and scored on a Tyler Blomdahl fielder's choice. Blomdahl scored all the way from first on a Brad Quade double.
Medford took the lead with four runs in the bottom of the inning, but Comer then shut down the Raiders until the fourth. The Rebels retook the lead with a six-run third inning. Zuiker, Comer and Blomdahl hit back-to-back-to-back RBI doubles and Jacob DeMeyer capped off the frame with a three-run home run to left center.
After Medford got to within two thanks to a two-run fourth, the Rebels responded with five runs in the fifth. Brandon Hess hit an RBI single, Zuiker scored three on a bases-clearing triple and scored himself on a Comer groundout.
Four runs crossed for Medford in the bottom of the fifth to trim the lead to 13-10. Nick Spencer relieved Comer to start the inning, but retired only one of the six batters he faced. Brandon Hess came on to close out the inning. He worked to the first six batters of the sixth but failed to retire anyone.
Tait Spencer's two-run single in the sixth gave the Rebels a five-run lead. He was one of five Rebels to collect multiple hits in the contest. Senoraske, Zuiker, Comer and Quade were the others.
"We were seeing the ball very well. We put the bat on the ball, barreled it up real good," Huhnstock said. "Fifteen runs and we should win the game."
Wednesday's loss dropped Rhinelander to 7-5 on the season and 4-4 in the GNLC. More importantly, the Rebels no longer control their own destiny in the conference title race, falling two games behind first-place Mosinee with four games remaining.
The Rebels were scheduled to return home to take on Eagle River Thursday in a doubleheader at Stafford Field, but the contests were rained out. A heavy downpour less than 90 minutes before the scheduled first pitch rendered the field unplayable. The twinbill will be made up Thursday, July 14 at Stafford Field.
Perhaps there was a silver lining in the rainout, because it broke up what was supposed to be a string of seven games in five days for the Rebels, but Huhnstock said he would have preferred to move on from the Medford loss as soon as possible.
"We would have really liked to have got this in to get that taste of Medford out of our mouth, but unfortunately, we're not going to be able to play any ball tonight," he said. "We'll just have to go to Merrill and get that taste out of our mouths down there."
The Rebels played Rothschild/Schofield/Weston Friday in the first round of the Merrill Invite. That game concluded after deadline. Rhinelander takes on Merrill and Holmen Saturday and will face one of those three teams Sunday in the placement round of the invite.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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