April 26, 2017 at 2:44 p.m.
Hodag baseball topples Tomahawk 13-1
Hodag baseball topples Tomahawk 13-1
"Our philosophy is it's never over until it's over," he said.
That proved to be the case Tuesday as the Hodag bats came to life with two outs and routed the Hatchets 13-1 in five innings at Kahle Field.
The Hodags were an astounding 8-for-13 with 11 RBIs with two men down Tuesday and asserted their dominance in the second when they scored five runs after having the bases clear and two outs.
"All of our hitters had some great at-bats, especially with two outs," Waksmonski said. "They did not want to be the last man out in the inning. We're a good offensive team right now and we're trying to bring out pitching and defense with it."
That was more than enough run support for Brad Comer, who scattered three hits and struck out five batters over five innings to pick up the win.
Two of those Hatchet hits came in the first as Isaac Weber tripled and scored a short time later on a Jake Ruid single. Tomahawk's only other threat came in the third when they loaded the bases with nobody out. Comer responded by striking out Zach Volz and Nick Boacke looking and got Eli Wurl to pop up to end the inning.
"They had a couple chances to get back into it, so it was good to see Brad come back," Waksmonski said. "He had a tough first part of the inning with a couple walks, but he came back, threw strikes and threw well."
Rhinelander scored two runs in the top of the first and never trailed. Brad Quade had four RBIs on the day, including a sacrifice fly to lead off the scoring in the first. Cole Spaulding followed with a two-out double.
Easton Senoraske, who along with Spaulding had a three-hit day, sparked the two-out rally in the second with a single. Comer helped his own cause with an RBI single two batters later and, after Tyler Blomdahl walked to load the bases, Quade cleared them with a triple to the gap in right center. Spaulding followed with a single up the middle to put the Hodags ahead 7-1.
Senoraske doubled and Jacob DeMeyer tripled to plate three runs with two out in the fourth and Tyler Olson added a pinch-hit two-run single with two out in the fifth. The Hodags had a number of opposite field extra-base hits Tuesday, another part of the team's philosophy at the plate.
"We have to be able to hit well the other way," Waksmonski said, referencing the triples by Quade and DeMeyer. "Both those guys have worked really hard in their time here on varsity and it's paying off right now this year."
Rhinelander (6-2, 3-0 Great Northern) will travel to Lakeland on Thursday.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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