July 10, 2017 at 4:13 p.m.
Rebels saved by the rain
Mother Nature squashes Everest rally, gives Post 7 title in Merrill
Rebels saved by the rain
Friday night the Rhinelander Post 7 Rebels got the short end of a weather-affected game against D.C. Everest in the opening game of the Merrill Post 46 Invitational. Sunday, with the tournament championship on the line, Mother Nature cut Rhinelander a break.
Rain halted play with D.C Everest rallying in the top of the seventh as the Rebels took the championship game 11-7 at Athletic Park. The Evergreens had already plated one run in the seventh to pull within 11-8 and had the bases loaded for Connor Langbehn, who had already homered once in the contest, when rain became strong enough to pull the teams off the field. The precipitation intensified as the teams tried to wait it out for 20 minutes before tournament officials pulled the plug due to a rain-soaked infield.
Because the game was called early, statistically, Everest's seventh-inning rally never happened.
"A rain-shortened, but very sweet victory anyway," Rebels manager Dan Huhnstock said. "Total team effort today, as it was all weekend long. We win as a team, lose as a team."
Rhinelander twice bounced back from three-run deficits in the championship game, taking the lead for good with a six-run fourth inning. Eight different Rebels recorded hits in the contest and all nine starters scored at least one run.
Everest strung together three in the second all with one out as Andrew Barnowski singled, Austin Gilge drew a bases-loaded walk and John Breske singled to left. Rhinelander answered with three in the bottom of the inning after Tait Spencer reached on a error on a sacrifice bunt attempt to load the bases with one out. Easton Senoraske singled to left to score two and Jacob DeMeyer smashed a line drive that bounced off Baranowski's glove at third. Spencer motored from second to score on the play.
Matt Jagodzinski had an RBI single and Connor Langbehn followed with a two-run shot to right to put Everest ahead 6-3 in the fourth before the Rebels cashed in on some Evergreen mistakes in the bottom of the inning. Gilge was ineffective in a short relief stint, giving up two walks and two hits in the four batters he faced. Singles by Brad Quade and Cole Spaulding tacked on two runs, two errors in left by Breske allowed another two runs to score and Kurt Zuiker hit a sacrifice fly to center to put the Rebels up 9-6.
"That's very huge for us to be able to do that. It shows the character of our team and how we don't give up," Huhnstock said. "We always figure we're in the game until the end."
After Connor Langbehn doubled home a run in the sixth, Rhinelander again answered in the bottom of the inning. Tyler Blomdahl singled home Spaulding and then got caught in a rundown between first and second just long enough for Zuiker to score from third.
Brandon Hess pitched 2 1/3 innings of relief in the win, allowing a run on three hits. He was about to be pulled from the mound in favor of Senoraske when the rains came. Matt Rudolph started and allowed six runs on nine hits over 3 2/3 innings.
"They kept us in the game and we scored runs, so that's the most important thing, especially on the tail end of a tournament when you are running short in pitching," Huhnstock said. "They did a very admirable job."
D.C. Everest 5, Rhinelander 1
The Rebels couldn't catch a break in Friday's tournament opener, falling to D.C. Everest 5-1.
Rhinelander hit a number of balls right at fielders while the Evergreens strung together a number of soft singles to score three runs in the second and take control of the contest.
Weather played a factor in the contest as rain delayed the start of the contest by more than an hour. Footing remained treacherous even after play began. With two on and two out in the second, Senoraske slipped trying to field a Nathan Jagodzinski ground ball to short, allowing a run to score. He then stumbled out of the break on another grounder through the hole by Baranowski that led to another run. Gilge lined a single to left to give Everest a 3-0 lead.
Brad Comer also slipped in front of the mound trying to field a bunt in the fifth inning.
"It very easily could have been a 2-1 game instead of a 5-1 game," Huhnstock said. "The field conditions were the same for both teams. It just affected us more."
D.C. Everest tacked on a run in the fifth and one more in the seventh.
Rhinelander had runners on base in every inning except the seventh, but struggled to drive them in. Senoraske, who went 3-for-4 in the contest, doubled in the fifth, got to third on DeMeyer's single and scored when pitcher Jordan Steinagel misfired on a pickoff attempt to first base. Randolph had a pair of hits in the game for the Rebels.
Comer took the loss, allowing four runs on 11 hits over six innings while striking out nine.
Rhinelander 9, Holmen 5
The loss Friday meant that Rhinelander had to run the table in Saturday's games to have a chance to play its way back into the championship game. After defeating Merrill earlier in the day, the Rebels jumped out on Holmen early and held on for a 9-5 win.
The Rebels led 7-0 after three innings, and were still ahead 9-2 in the seventh when the Vikings rallied for three runs in their last at-bat.
"That's the key when you play a really good team," Huhnstock said. "If you can get up on them early, it really makes a big difference. Being able to play from ahead is a lot easier than playing from behind."
DeMeyer got the win for Rhinelander, allowing five unearned runs on seven hits with nine strikeouts over 6 2/3 innings. He was pulled after giving up a two-run, two-out double to Mitch Torud with only three pitches remaining on his 120-pitch limit. Hess got Austin Braund to pop out to end the contest.
"We wanted in the worst way for (DeMeyer) to get the complete game, but his pitch count was right at the limit so we had to bring Brandon in for a one-out relief appearance," Huhnstock said.
Spaulding went 2 for 4 in the game including an RBI single that put Rhinelander up 1-0 in the first. A walk, sacrifice fly and groundout produced Rhinelander's three runs in the second. Zuiker had and RBI double and Randolph added a two-run single in Rhinelander's third. An error and a double steal by Spencer and Senoraske gave Rhinelander two more runs in the fifth.
Rhinelander 11, Merrill 1
Bryce Schickert was efficient on the mound as the Rebels took advantage of some sloppy Merrill defense to defeat the tournament hosts 11-1 in five innings.
The Rebels scored in every inning except the fifth and broke the game open with four-run frames in the second and third.
Jacob DeMeyer had a big day at the plate, going 3-for-3 with a double and four RBIs. Josh Randolph and Tait Spencer had two hits each.
Rhinelander caught a break with the bases loaded and one out in the second inning, when Merrill misfired on a potential double play ball off the bat of Easton Senoraske, allowing two runs to score. DeMeyer added an RBI single and later scored on an error.
Eric Grulke reached on an error and drove in Randolph in the third. DeMeyer smashed a two-run double to right and Comer followed with an RBI single to give Rhinelander a 9-0 lead. Merrill committed six errors between the second and third innings.
"It was really good ball by the team today," Huhnstock said. "We brought our bats, played real good defense - a lot of hustle, a lot of hitting and some very good pitching."
Trey Seubert hit a solo home run for Merrill, the only damage allowed by Schickert in an efficient 52-pitch outing. He scattered four hits and struck out four over five innings with no walks.
Randolph went 2 for 3 for Rhinelander in the contest and finished the tournament 7 for 11 at the plate.
Up next
The Rebels return home Tuesday for a pivotal Great Northern Legion Conference contest against Mosinee at Stafford Field. The Rebels currently sit 1 1/2 games behind Mosinee in the standings, after losing on a walkoff 4-3 to Mosinee last month. Rhinelander could pull even in the loss column with a win.
"It's a very important game Tuesday night against Mosinee and hopefully our momentum carries on through," Huhnstock said.
First pitch is set for 7 p.m.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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