June 1, 2018 at 12:50 p.m.
Just not enough
Hodags' late rally falls short in 7-6 playoff loss to Mosinee
Just not enough
Rhinelander's rally came up one run short as it fell to Mosinee 7-6 in a WlAA Division 2 regional final at City Park.
The Indians blasted Brad Comer for four runs before a single out was recorded in the first inning, and chased him from the mound after only 1 1/3 innings. Behind reliever Josh Randolph, Rhinelander shut down Mosinee after the third inning but it was too little too late.
The Hodags nearly clawed back from a deficit that was as large as five runs, but left the bases loaded in its two big innings and Bryce Schickert, the hero from Tuesday night's win at Medford, struck out to end the game with the tying run at first base in the seventh.
Coach Joe Waksmonski credited the Hodags for their resilience, but his team was still denied its first trip to sectionals since 2004.
"I thought that was the trademark of this team this year, the ability to handle adversity and battle back," he said. "We've been in some dire straits this year and tonight was no different, we were down 5-0 and you've got to give credit to Mosinee. They were ready to hit the ball right away. They came out scorching line drives. Thankfully, Josh came in and kind of righted the ship for us and gave us a chance, offensively, to get back into it."
Mosinee jumped on Comer from the start Thursday. After Seth Kuhn walked to lead off the bottom of the first, Trey Fitzgerald, Ben Vandehey and Brandon Bernarde hit back-to-back-to-back RBI doubles to right. Matt Olson followed with an RBI single that gave Mosinee a 4-0 lead.
Things didn't go much better for Comer in the second, after giving up a leadoff single to Ryan Walsh. He walked Fitzgerald and hit Vandehey with a pitch to load the bases, ending his starting appearance after only four outs.
It was the third straight rough start for Comer, who sat for five innings of Tuesday's win over Medford for a violation of team rules. He allowed five runs on five hits Tuesday. He only lasted 1 1/3 innings May 19 in a 15-5 loss at D.C. Everest and was tagged for eight runs on seven hits in only three innings May 15 against Antigo in a game the Hodags eventually lost 10-9.
"There's a time where we're throwing too good of strikes," Waksmonski said of Comer's pitching performance. "When we got them on the edges, he was all right but we just couldn't keep him on the edges. I thought that was the difference between him and Josh. Josh was able to pitch effectively on the edges and mix in a nice curveball. Actually, Brad did have a nice curveball at the beginning of the game, we just couldn't keep the fastball on the edges and Mosinee made us pay for those pitches."
Bernarde grounded into an RBI fielder's choice as Randolph entered the game. Randolph allowed only four hits over final 4 2/3 innings, but a two-run single by James Reed in the third drove in what proved to be the winning run.
Rhinelander's comeback bid started in the third as Schickert walked and moved all the way to third on a passed ball before scoring on a Randolph infield hit. Comer added an RBI single later in the inning and Cole Spaulding drew a bases-loaded walk with two out. The Hodags could do no further damage, however, as Liam Stevens struck out looking to end the threat.
Comer doubled home Brad Quade and Jacob DeMeyer followed with an RBI single with nobody out in the fifth. The Hodags eventually loaded the bases after Stevens was hit by a pitch and Schickert drew a walk, but Abe Laggis grounded out to second to end the inning.
DeMeyer got Rhinelander's rally going in the seventh with a standup double and eventually scored on a sacrifice fly by Spaulding. Stevens walked to extend the game, but Walsh got Schickert looking at a 1-2 slider to end the contest.
Walsh pitched the final two innings for Mosinee to get the save. Vandehey allowed five runs on five hits over five innings to get the win.
"We put together some really good at-bats against a really good pitcher," Waksmonski said. "Ben Vandehey is one of the top pitchers in our conference. We battled him, took him all the way to his pitch limit. I'm proud of that, for what we did tonight."
Comer went 3-for-4 at the plate with two RBIs while DeMeyer was 2-for-3 with an RBI for Rhinelander.
The Hodags' season ends with a record of 12-11. Rhinelander won only three times following a 9-0 start.
"We started 9-0 and then we hit that lull where we lost the next eight. We could have folded there, but I thought our guys battled back," Waksmonski said. "Really, I thought this last week of practice was exceptional for our guys. I thought we had five really good practices where we got a lot out of it and we seemed to got a lot better. That paid off, especially for our younger guys, going into the postseason. Hopefully that bodes well for our future."
Many of the same players will be back in Rhinelander uniforms this summer during the American Legion baseball season, which is scheduled to get underway Wednesday against Merrill at Stafford Field.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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