July 31, 2017 at 5:03 p.m.
Gritty Rebels turned in strong summer
Gritty Rebels turned in strong summer
Rhinelander accomplished one of those goals and came tantalizingly close to checking off the second.
Overall, it was a very successful season for the Rebels, who finished 20-5, won the GNLC with a 10-2 league mark and advanced to the Legion regional championship game where they lost to Antigo by a run after mounting a late-inning comeback.
Here's a look back at some of the key storylines from the summer and a look ahead to next spring for the Rhinelander baseball program.
Battling adversity
When you are winning games at an .800 clip, there's isn't necessarily a ton of adversity to be found. But how the Rebels responded during and after their five losses helped define their season.
Rhinelander let a lead in the seventh inning slip away against Tomahawk in the second game of the summer and lost 9-8, suffering an early setback in the GNLC race. Thanks to a couple of rainouts, the Rebels had a week to stew about that defeat prior to their home invitational over Father's Day weekend and came back firing, outscoring their opponents 44-5 in route to the tournament championship.
Another seventh-inning letdown led to a loss at Mosinee June 23, putting the Rebels well behind Mosinee early in the conference race. Rhinelander ran the table the rest of the way, while Mosinee lost its next time out to Chequamegon and had to forfeit a July 11 rematch with the Rebels due to a lack of players. Mosinee also was unable to make-up two conference games, giving Rhinelander the GNLC title outright for the second year running.
Rhinelander lost to D.C. Everest on the first day of an invitational at Merrill last month, putting the Rebels hopes of repeating as champions in that tournament in doubt, but Rhinelander responded with big wins over Holmen and Merrill to set up a rematch with Everest in the championship game. Down 3-0 early in that contest, Rhinelander quickly tied the game at 3. When the Evergreens hung up another three-spot later in the game, Rhinelander answered with six the next half inning and eventually won a rain-shortened contest 11-7.
"It shows the character of our team and how we don't give up," Huhnstock said afterward. "We always figure we're in the game until the end."
Rhinelander faced a similar situation in the Legion regional tournament, following an uncharacteristically sloppy 10-7 loss to Shawano in the opening round. Jacob DeMeyer and Tyler Blomdahl's home runs helped break open a scoreless tie the next day in the sixth inning against Merrill. The Rebels staved off elimination in that game, routed Minocqua and then exacted revenge on Shawano to punch a ticket into the championship game.
Down to its sixth and seventh pitching options, the Rebels struggled against hot-hitting Antigo and trailed 13-4 after five innings. Rhinelander rallied with six runs in the sixth and three more in the seventh to tie the game before Antigo delivered a walkoff hit in the bottom of the inning.
"There's a lot of perseverance within our roster," said RHS baseball coach Joe Waksmonski, who was on the bench for the majority of the Rebels' games this summer. "We preach all the time it's a 21-out game and we have to play to the 21st out, whether we're up or whether we're down. No one can take a knee or hold the ball on us. A lot of that has to do with the guys expect to win. Even though we may be down, little or big, our guys expect to win."
Known commodities
Following a 17-6 record in the high school season, Rhinelander kept the ball rolling during the summer, thanks to a number of known commodities.
A couple of those players, seniors-to-be Jacob DeMeyer and Brad Comer, will be the cornerstones of the team next year. DeMeyer hit a team best .482 this summer with a home run and 34 RBIs. Comer finished the summer batting .400 with three dingers and 33 driven in.
The two were potent on the mound as well. DeMeyer logged the most innings pitched this summer with 36 2/3, while Comer was second on the team at 31 1/3. DeMeyer went 5-0 with a 0.95 ERA and 48 strikeouts. Comer was 4-1 with a 3.35 ERA and 37 strikeouts.
The batting order featured most of the same players as it did in the spring, with Easton Senoraske, Brad Quade, Cole Spaulding, Tyler Blomdahl and Tait Spencer making significant contributions. Rhinelander hit .364 overall this summer. That average rose to .387 with runners in scoring position.
"We know that we can hit the ball a little bit and the guys we having coming back, they had success in the spring and they continued that into the summer for the most part," Waksmonski said.
Rising stars
A few players stepped up this summer, turning in strong performances that should translate into prominent roles on varsity next year.
At the plate, Josh Randolph blossomed into a dangerous offensive weapon while lefty Bryce Schickert proved equally effective on the mound.
Randolph only saw spot at- bats this spring, going 0-for-11 for the Hodag varsity but caught fire this summer. His .420 batting average was second-best on the team, behind DeMeyer. He also cranked out nine extra-base hits, trailing only DeMeyer, Comer and Blomdahl in that category. Randolph became a utility player for the Rebels, playing third, left and DH most of the summer - and even was pressed into relief pitching duty in the regional championship game against Antigo.
"He had a great summer hitting the baseball," Waksmonski said. "It seemed like wherever we put him in the lineup, he was hitting line shots into the outfield, and that's what we're looking for. I can't wait to see what he's going to look like next spring, given 7-8 months here of just physically maturing naturally. Hopefully he'll spend some time in the weight room getting stronger as well. He's got a bright future in front of him."
It was a similar story for Schickert who made his varsity pitching debut in the spring regular season finale against Ashland. He developed into the Rebels' No. 3 starting pitcher this summer, going 4-0 in five starts with a 1.84 ERA.
"Bryce Schickert, I thought, impressed us with the way he threw this summer," Waksmonski said. "We're looking to replace our No. 3 (pitcher) in Easton next year - whether that's in (a) relief (role) or as a starter - you've got to have at least three and I think we'll be pretty solid there."
Huhnstock also noted the performance of Eric Grulke, who made spot starts at third for the Rebels this summer. He hit .412 (7 for 17) in a limited role during the season.
What's next
Last Wednesday's doubleheader win over Medford was the last game for a number of athletes in a Rhinelander uniform, including 2016 grads Kurt Zuiker and Brandon Hess, who were eligible to return to the Rebels this summer based on their birthdates.
Senoraske, Blomdahl, Spencer and Rudolph all graduated this spring and only a couple will be eligible to return next summer. Yet, given the strong senior core Rhinelander will have returning and the performance of several younger players this summer, both Waksmonski and Huhnstock said they have reason to be optimistic regarding the future.
"We're going to be losing a lot, but we're going to be gaining a lot, reloading," Huhnstock said. "It's definitely not going to be a rebuilding year. It will just be shuffling the deck and expecting some of the younger players to take the step up as they started to this summer."
The biggest questions remain who will replace Senoraske at shortstop and Blomdahl at catcher. The two logged the majority of innings at those positions this summer. Comer made a few spot starts at catcher while Rhinelander tried a couple of different players at short, including Randolph and DeMeyer.
"We got some guys some innings there this summer, but nothing's concrete yet as far as those positions for next year," Waksmonski said.
And while the Rebels had a number of strong pitching options this summer, walks were an issue at times. Rhinelander's staff walked 101 batters in 155 innings. Excessive walks in the tournament games against Shawano bloated Schickert and DeMeyer's pitch counts in those contests, forced Rhinelander to use relievers and put the Rebels into a bit of a pitching bind by the end of the tournament.
Waksmonski said this offseason will be key for the development of the returning pitchers as well as possibly deepening Rhinelander's bullpen.
"That's really the big thing we found out with this pitch count this year," he said. "You've got to throw strikes. The days of throwing 50 percent strikes are kind of over as far as if you want to throw a complete game. We've got to be more consistent throwing strikes and we've got to be more consistent within the strike zone. A lot of our guys, their biggest goal this offseason will be to get out and throw, and long toss and throw bullpens."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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