July 27, 2016 at 1:39 p.m.
Newspapers prevail in media snowshoe baseball game
17-13 win shows print journalists are athletes, too
Newspapers prevail in media snowshoe baseball game
By By Evan Verploegh-
Fielding a team for the July 25 game was a task in itself. While a few jumped at the opportunity to either bask in glory or make complete fools of themselves, others wanted to observe from the sidelines the often mediocre, sometimes rotten and occasional quality play. After much positive encouragement, requests to participate began to devolve into "You'll be there. No questions. No excuses," which seemed to get the job done.
When it was all said and done, our superlative lineup was set. With Tony "The Ant" Loomis, Jeremy "Mayday" Mayo, Hunter "Storm" Warning, Daleth "The Mountain" Mountjoy, Ben "The Bender" Gauger and myself all raring to take the field against Channel 12, a last minute addition to the roster was made. Gregg "Get the Scoop" Walker called his own number and strapped up as our valiant leader.
Our squad, excluding "The Mountain," (more on that later) arrived at Snowshoe Park in Lake Tomahawk wall ahead of the scheduled 7:30 p.m. first pitch to get loosened up and acclimated to trotting in our snowshoes in an effort to minimize any potential injuries. We were all feeling fairly nimble and confident as fans began taking their seats and familiar voices, including that of our general manager and No. 1 supporter Heather Holmes, rang throughout the ballpark.
For the record, Holmes played in last year's media game but made the brave decision to watch this year's festivities from the bleachers.
Joined by a few of the Snowhawks players such as Craig Holmquist, Derek Young, Billy Kuckkahn, Eric Hilmer, Ryan Showalter and Brent Cella to flesh out our roster, we eyed up our competition as their Snowhawk players led them through warmups. After a rousing rendition of the national anthem from Waukesha quadruplets Anika, Julia, Kelsey and Ian Shoppach, the first pitch was thrown by Ginny Buzzell. Newswatch 12 then took the field as the home team as Mayo grabbed a bat and stepped up to the plate.
Mayo, our fearless sports editor, proceeded to feebly pop out to short to start the game but - perhaps even surprising ourselves - we were able to grab four runs out of the gate. Loomis, Young, Holmquist and myself all singled and went on to cross home before a double play ball ended our fiery start.
We carried our offensive momentum into the field and after giving up a leadoff single to 12's managing editor Lane Kimble and a single to Snowhawk player/coach Jeff Smith we were able to move into the second inning holding a 4-0 lead.
With our confidence now brimming, our egos were quickly brought back to earth as a three up, three down top of the second made us realize that we might not be the indomitable force that we initially believed we might be. Nonetheless, our defense stayed relatively stout. Between Warning's cat-like reflexes at shortstop and Walker's soft hands at first we moved into the third inning still holding the advantage at 4-2.
We continued to surprise ourselves and possibly the fans with our offensive output and after line drive shots from both Mayo and Loomis, as well as some assistance from both Holmquist and Young of the Snowhawks, we continued to build our lead.
With two outs in the ining the moment we all all had been waiting for was finallay upon us. "The Mountain" Mountjoy, fresh out of his Rhinelander District Library meeting, took the plate for his first at-bat. With no time to change clothes, Mountjoy, wearing slacks, raced down the baseline after hitting a ground ball and rolled over first base in a heap of sawdust as he narrowly beat out the throw.
The game moved forward with all the blunder you would expect from two teams made up of people who generally present the news rather than make it themselves. In the fifth inning, Newswatch 12 began to claw back with three runs scored on hits from Cole Punches, Todd Niemuth and Donnie Moore of the Snowhawks along with an RBI single from weather anchor and reporter Geoff Weller.
Heading into the sixth, we still managed to hold a 13-5 lead but with crowd support perhaps wavering against us in favor of a comeback performance, encouragement from The Times faithful to keep our foot on the gas echoed around us. With strong performances at the plate once again from Mayo and Loomis as well as clutch singles from "The Bender" Gauger and Mountjoy, we extended our lead to 17-5 after the top of the seventh.
As the final half inning approached, it was clear that fatigue was setting in. After some infield errors led to some raised eyebrows and murmurs from teammates, it was time to put the game to rest for once and for all.
Newswatch 12 had some different ideas and went on to cross eight baserunners in the half inning, including executive producer Ben Meyer, meteorologist Chad Roethlisberger, anchor Mary O'Connell and assistant producer Rachel Niemi.
The scoring onslaught was finally put to rest when Loomis stepped on third for a force out to end the inning, but not after a bit of worry on our side. Thankfully, the books were closed with The Lakeland Times/Northwoods River News coming away with a 17-13 win.
It was an event that can only be described as impossibly fun and good-natured. I speak for everyone who was a part of it in saying thank you to the Snowhawks and each an every fan for making it possible. I could not imagine something that creates such a positive atmosphere for a community as the weekly snowshoe baseball game does in Lake Tomahawk.
While fortunate enough to come away with the win and bragging rights until next year, WJFW Newswatch 12 gave it their all and acted as very formidable opponents. It was the perfect way to combine both news sources in an affable, yet competitive way.
As I look around the office, I see some limps and many who are not quite moving as fast as they were prior to the game, but we can now all laugh and jeer one another while knowing that we are the top snowshoe baseball playing newspaper staff in the Northwoods of Wisconsin.
The Snowhawks will get back to facing some real competition next Monday when they host Zimmy's All-Stars at Snowshoe Park. First pitch is set for 7:30 p.m.
Evan Verploegh may be reached via email at [email protected].
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