May 19, 2017 at 4:54 p.m.
Rhinelander stays patient against Tomahawk
Hodags still alive for conference title
Rhinelander stays patient against Tomahawk
The Hodags struggled to score runs on Tuesday, but not this time around. Tomahawk struggled to find the zone, as Rhinelander scored three runs on passed balls, while getting all nine of its runs in the first three innings en route to a 9-1 win.
"Our hitters were patient, we drew a lot of walks and took advantage of wild pitches," RHS head coach Joe Waksmonski said. "I think we scored three or four runs on wild pitches tonight. Offensively, we weren't really dominant. Hitting-wise, we were just patient enough to let them make the mistakes and then we just took advantage."
Rhinelander scored three runs in the bottom of the first, followed by two in the second and four in the third.
The Hodags managed seven hits, but only one extra-base hit, a double by Easton Senoraske.
Tyler Blomdahl, Brad Quade and Brad Comer had two RBIs each, but this game was about capitalizing on opponent's errors.
"We took advantage of some wild pitches to score some runs," Waksmonski said. "We did have some clutch hits to get some RBIs. It worked both ways. Kind of, more or less, took advantage of their mistakes tonight."
Defensively, Rhinelander allowed just five hits, as Comer had another solid outing on the mound in a win.
Comer had five walks in six innings, but allowed just one run on five hits, while striking out six batters before Tait Spencer pitched the final inning.
"Throughout the whole game he threw well," Waksmonski said. "In the first inning he had three walks and he was able to work himself out of that jam to not give up any. Overall, I thought both pitchers threw pretty well, kept them off balance and let their defense play for them."
An opponent such as Tomahawk, which is just 1-10 in the GNC was a good opponent after the loss to Antigo earlier in the week.
With Antigo's game against Mosinee postponed, the Hodags stay in contention for a share of the GNC title.
"It's always good to get a win in our conference," Waksmonski said. "I don't think there's any such thing as a cheap win. Any time you can get a win over anyone in our conference -- I think we have a really good conference, top to bottom -- and on any given night anyone can win. It's just a funny part of baseball. If you've got a really good day, anyone can win."
Rhinelander (13-4, 8-2, GNC) needs to win the rematch with Antigo on Monday and have the Red Robins lose once more also.
The Hodags were scheduled to be back on the diamond at Hodag Park Saturday for a doubleheader against Rice Lake but the games were canceled due to inclement weather.
Nick Sabato may be reached at [email protected] or via Twitter @SabatoNick.
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