August 3, 2018 at 4:17 p.m.
Legion baseball review
Sour end to otherwise strong season for Rebels
Legion baseball review
Expectations were high for both clubs following dominating regular seasons, but both teams bid a stunning and early farewell in postseason competition.
Much like Hodag hoops coach Derek Lemmens said after an overtime playoff loss to Medford, Rebels manager Dan Huhnstock insisted one bad day did not define the season for his club.
"17-3 is a heck of a season," he said. "It didn't end the way we wanted to, but nothing to hang their heads about and it's definitely something for our younger kids to build on, all the experience they got this year and, the older kids that (have) finished up their Legion careers, they were one of the winningest programs we've had come through here in a long time. They played a lot of high-caliber ball."
Here are the main storylines from the Rebels' recently completed season.
Regular season domination
Rhinelander moved through the Great Northern Legion Conference on its way to a third straight championship, becoming the league's first undefeated team in the process.
The Rebels were dominant in league play and led the conference in runs per game (10.0), runs allowed per game (1.6), batting average (.403) and team ERA (1.50).
Virtually every conference win was a blowout. The one main exception was a narrow 3-2 win against Northwoods in Eagle River June 13 -- something that would foreshadow events later in the year.
Rhinelander was just as stout in non-conference play. It's lone loss during the regular season came at the hands of defending Class AA state champ Holmen.
Postseason problems
Unfortunately for the Rebels, their aspirations of making the state tournament came unraveled in one day at home in the regional tournament.
The luck of the draw pitted Rhinelander and Antigo - on paper the two strongest teams in the field - against each other in the first round. Despite Antigo shelling Hodag starter Jacob DeMeyer for eight runs on 16 hits in 4 1/3 innings of work, Rhinelander hung around and lost 8-6.
Though that made Rhinelander's path to a title in the double-elimination bracket more difficult, all hope wasn't lost. All the two-loss Rebels had to do was get by Northwoods, which had won only one game all season.
But baseball has a funny way of producing surprising results in a one-game series. Such was the case on this day as Northwoods pitcher Brad Sowinski kept the Rebels off balance and the Eagles batters did just enough to claw out a 4-2 win.
Huhnstock said his team struggled to pick itself up after a hard-fought loss against Antigo, and going back on the field minutes later to play Northwoods in an elimination game proved to be a recipe for diaster.
"It's a game of inches and momentum and, obviously, we lost our momentum after we lost to Antigo," Huhnstock said afterward. "It just ended up being one of those days we'd like to forget."
Senior leaders
As was the case during spring, a couple of seniors did some heavy lifting for the Rebels both offensively and on the mound in Jacob DeMeyer and Brad Comer
DeMeyer backed up his .507 average in the spring by going .508 at the plate in the summer with two home runs and 20 RBIs. Comer hit .415 with a homer and 21 driven in. On the mound, DeMeyer was 3-1 with a 3.58 ERA and 32 strikeouts over 29 1/3 innings. Comer was 4-0 with a 2.67 ERA and 26 strikeouts over 21 innings
Paired with age-eligible 2017 grad Easton Senoraske (.351, 6 RBIs) in front of them, and fellow senior Brad Quade (.419, 15 RBIs), the foursome made for a strong presence near the top of the Rebels' lineup.
"Them kids, they've been so dependable, so easy to coach and they always played their hearts out," Huhnstock said of this year's group of seniors.
The kids are all right
The legion season allowed a glimpse into the future of Rhinelander baseball, and while there will be big shoes to fill with the departure of Comer and DeMeyer, the underclassmen should help to fill the void next spring.
On the mound, the Hodags will have plenty of pitching options. Bryce Schickert and Josh Randolph continued to throw well. Schickert, a lefty, pitched a team-high 34 innings this summer, allowing only one earned run all season while striking out 35 batters. Randolph went 2-1 in 16 1/3 innings with a 1.68 ERA
In addition, senior-to-be Martin Hoger, who was unable to play much of the spring season, became a solid member of the rotation. He won his Legion pitching debut against Mosinee and finished the year 2-1 with a 2.52 ERA.
Perhaps the biggest reason the Rebels had more success this summer than their spring high school counterparts is that the bats of some of the underclassmen picked up considerably.
Two of the most noteworthy cases were Randolph and Abe Laggis.
Laggis lead the team, batting .615 this summer with 11 RBIs in only 26 official at-bats. Randolph, meanwhile, hit .415 with a home run and 12 RBIs.
Additionally, Rhinelander got some help from a couple of players who spent most of the spring on JV, Danny Zuiker and Jacob Dreifuerst. Zuiker played a number of games at second this spring. Dreifuerst got some starts at first when Schickert was pitching and provided some pop, hitting .269 with 10 RBIs.
More than half of Dreifuerst's hits this summer went for extra bases.
"This will definitely help them going forward into next spring, all the experience they got this summer," Huhnstock said. "Hopefully, we'll get the kids coming through Babe Ruth to see the success of our program. If they work hard and the whole program feeds itself. Rhinelander Babe Ruth this year, they had some exceptional talent down there that's just waiting to come up and fill some spots that are going to be vacated by our older guys."
Not only will those underclassmen be the core group of leaders for the Hodags next spring, they will be the nucleus of the Legion squad next summer.
Comer is the only one of the team's Class of 2018 graduates eligible to return next summer, based on his birthdate.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
Comments:
You must login to comment.