July 18, 2016 at 2:07 p.m.
Rebels get best of Graveen, Mosinee in GNLC showdown
Rebels get best of Graveen, Mosinee in GNLC showdown
The hard-throwing righty, who tossed a shutout against Rhinelander earlier in the season, was knocked around for eight runs over the first three innings as the Rebels claimed an important victory for their Great Northern Legion Conference championship hopes, defeating Mosinee 8-3 at City Park.
Mosinee (9-5, 7-4 GNLC) could have clinched a share of the inaugural conference title with a win. Instead Rhinelander (12-5, 6-4 GNLC) put itself in position to earn at least a share of the crown by sweeping a doubleheader from last-place Eagle River Monday.
After a scoreless first, the Rebels got to Graveen in the second. Tyler Blomdahl led off with a double to deep right center and scored on a two-out single by Nick Spencer. Brandon Hess took the following pitch to deep right for a double and Spencer scored all the way from first to give the Rebels a quick 2-0 lead.
The hitting continued in the third and the Rebels parlayed a pair of Mosinee errors into a big inning. Easton Senoraske started things off by reaching on a misplayed grounder to third. After a well-placed sacrifice bunt by Kurt Zuiker, Brad Comer hit a double off the fence in straightaway center, scoring Senoraske. Blomdahl singled home Comer and Brad Quade reached on a single that died on the infield grass inches from the third-base line.
Jacob DeMeyer hit a potential double play ball to second, but everyone was safe, and Blomdahl scored, when Brett Cook's throw sailed high. Two batters later, Brandon Hess hit a bloop single to right, scoring Quade. Hess then brought home another run, thanks to some heady baserunning. With DeMeyer on third, Hess took an aggressive lead from first and was caught in a rundown when Graveen made a pickoff move. Hess extended the play long enough for DeMeyer to make a break for the plate. Mosinee made a late throw home and Hess wound up at second on the play. He scored moments later on a Tait Spencer single up the middle to give the Rebels an 8-0 lead.
"That was a real huge inning for us," Huhnstock said. "Overall tonight, everybody played a part. We had hitting in the lower end of the lineup too. Hitting is contagious. We took advantage of a few mistakes and the bats got rolling. We played a very good game tonight."
Despite consistently falling behind early in the count, DeMeyer kept Mosinee in check until the fifth when a hit batsmen sandwiched between two walks loaded the bases with nobody out. Two batters later Cook singled to right, plating Graveen and Kal McHugh. Kelvin Lassa followed with a single up the middle to score Zach Bednar. Mosinee looked primed for more after a passed ball got Lassa and Cook to second and third, but Hess made a diving catch on a Dylan Lassa fly ball to left and made the throw to second to get an inning-ending double play.
DeMeyer went five innings, allowing three runs on four hits with three strikeouts in the win.
"He threw a real strong game for us," Huhnstock said. "That's what we need from him. This is a good game for him to build off of too."
Comer came on to work the sixth and seventh, allowing two hits and a strikeout to secure the victory.
"Brad just comes in and throws strikes," Huhnstock added. "He's always around the plate, let's the defense do some work for him and our defense did come through and do the work."
Comer added a 3-for-4 day at the plate with a pair of doubles. Blomdahl and Hess each had a pair of hits in the contest and the Rebels as a team struck out only five times against Graveen, a much improved effort compared to June 28 when Graveen fanned 11 in a four-hit shutout at Stafford Field.
"We just told them we don't want to see any more looking third strikes," Huhnstock said. "An aggressive swinging strikeout, we can live with, but standing there watching strike three get called repeatedly is unforgivable. We had a good change in our attitude at the plate, our mental approach at the plate. It's been building for a little white now."
Huhnstock: "Big week for Rebel baseball"
The Rebels are in full stride as they turn their attention to the playoffs.
Rhinelander faced Eagle River Monday in a doubleheader that concluded after deadline, likely needing to win both games to earn a piece of the conference title. Mosinee and Minocqua could also lay claim to the crown with wins in their final regular season games. Minocqua played at Chequamegon Monday night while Mosinee travels to Eagle River Tuesday.
The Class AA Region 2 tournament kicks off Wednesday in Merrill. Through a blind draw Rhinelander was selected to play in the play-in game of the five-team tournament against odds-on regional favorite Antigo.
Huhnstock said the Rebels are ready for the Typhoon.
"If you want to be the best, you have to beat the best," he said, noting that Friday's win over Mosinee was an excellent tuneup for the tournament. "We faced as good of pitching tonight as we will see in the tournament, in our regional and we rose to the occasion tonight. There's no reason we can't rise to the occasion in regionals."
Rhinelander and Antigo play at 5 p.m. Wednesday at Athletic Park. The winner will face Eagle River at 5 p.m. Thursday while the loser will face the loser of Wednesday's Minocqua-Merrill matchup at 7:30 p.m. Thursday.
The double elimination tournament will conclude Saturday.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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