July 20, 2018 at 5:04 p.m.
Shaky fifth costs Rhinelander in Prep League championship
Shaky fifth costs Rhinelander in Prep League championship
Top-seeded Eagle River Red scored six times in the fifth inning, which proved to be the difference as the Eagles beat the Hodags 9-5 at Stafford Field.
The trouble for Rhinelander began with the game tied 3-3 in the top of the fifth when the Hodags failed to retire the bottom four batters in the Eagles' lineup. Pitcher Sam Schneider gave up a leadoff double to James McKormick, walked Logan Kramsvogel and allowed an RBI single to Sam Warner as Eagle River took a 4-3 lead.
The woes continued once Rhinelander switched pitchers and went to Logan Schmoeger, who walked Dominic Ratliff and then threw a wild pitch that scored Kramsvogel. Back to the top of the order, Brandon Bauman and Nolan Lurvey delivered back-to-back RBI singles. Then two throwing errors following a Kadin Kroplin single allowed two more runs to cross, putting Eagle River ahead 9-3.
The Hodags tried to mount a rally in the seventh, loading the bases with nobody out, but Ryan Jamison was thrown out at home, trying to score on a wild pitch. Mason Davis followed with a two-run single, but Cal Laggis lined out to first, sparking a game-ended double play.
Eagle River Red jumped out to a 2-0 lead with runs in the first two innings before the Hodags mounted a charge. Schneider singled in the second and scored on Laggis' infield hit deep in the hole at shortstop.
Carter Krueger lined a base hit to right past a drawn in infield to tie the game in the third and Aiden Walker-Jewell scored on a wild pitch to give Rhinelander a brief 3-2 lead. Eagle River Red tied it in the fourth when Kroplin scored following a botched pickoff attempt at third base.
Eagle River outpaced Rhinelander 11-5 in the hit category. Davis went 2-for-3 to lead the way. Schneider, Laggis and Krueger had the other hits for the Hodags.
Kolby Ridderbusch started and pitched three innings for Rhinelander, allowing two runs on four hits. Jamison came on in relief in the sixth inning and struck out four batters over 1 2/3 innings of scoreless ball.
Eagle River Red, the top seed in the tournament, finished the year 13-2-1 overall. Rhinelander, the third seed, finished 11-4-2.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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