June 11, 2018 at 12:26 p.m.
Rebels trounce Tomahawk in GLNC opener
Rebels trounce Tomahawk in GLNC opener
Everybody in the lineup hit the ball well and the Rebels got a gem from ace Jacob DeMeyer in a 19-0 victory over the Tomahawk Cubs in the Great Northern Legion Conference opener at Kahle Field.
DeMeyer struck out eight and was one out away from a five-inning no hitter until Nick Kahle and Shawn Dirkx broke it up with back-to-back infield hits.
"The only thing we were missing were a couple of infield hits late in the game," Rebels manager Dan Huhnstock said. "Otherwise, it was a perfect evening for Rhinelander baseball."
That was the only real drama down the stretch for the Rebels, who jumped ahead with five runs in the first two innings, tacked on five more in the fourth and hung up a nine-spot in the fifth.
The Hodags had only nine players on the roster for Friday night's game and every single one of them pulled their weight. Abe Laggis and Martin Hoger each went 4-for-4 plate and all nine batters had at least one hit and one RBI.
"You can't do much better than that,"
Huhnstock said. "A team approach to the game like that, we're going to win a lot of games if we continue hitting like that."
The Rebels collected 19 hits in the contest - all singles - as they rocked a trio of Cub pitchers. Josh Randolph, Laggis and DeMeyer set the tone with three straight singles to start the contest as Rhinelander put up three runs in the opening inning. Laggis singled home a run in the second and DeMeyer grounded home a run in the second.
Hoger got the rally going in the fourth with a two-run bases loaded single. Bryce Schickert scored when a Jacob Dreifuerst fly ball was dropped in center field. Teagan Guckenberg added an RBI single and Danny Zuiker added an RBI ground out to put the Rebels ahead 10-0 in the fourth.
Dreifuerst, Guckenberg, Zuiker, Randolph, Laggis and DeMeyer had RBIs on six straight plate appearances in the fifth thanks to a combination of singles, walks and groundouts. The Rebels had nine runs on seven hits and sent 15 batters to the plate overall in the frame.
With the game well in hand, the only question was whether DeMeyer would finish his abbreviated no-hit bid. He struck out Tony Matti and Isaiah Scheffler in the inning before Nick Kahle hit a dribbler in between DeMeyer on the mound, Schickert at first and Zuiker at second for Tomahawk's first hit of the game. Dirkx followed with a ground ball deep to the hole at short that Randolph knocked down, but he did not have enough time to make a throw.
DeMeyer got Matt Bartz to pop out to end the game. In the end, DeMeyer had to settle for a two-hit shutout with eight strikeouts and three walks.
"We were really pulling for him," Huhnstock said of DeMeyer's no-hit bid. "It is what it is. The other team is still playing, too. Still JD threw an absolutely great game tonight."
Rhinelander (2-0, 1-0 GNLC) travels to Eagle River to take on Northwoods on Wednesday.
Rebel Invite schedule changes
The revised schedule for this weekend's Rebel Invite was sent out Saturday. The event has been condensed to a four-team tournament after Minocqua's legion team folded for the 2018 season last week.
Rhinelander will still play at 8 p.m. Friday against Clintonville and 12:30 p.m. Saturday against Tomahawk. Chequamegon will take Minocqua's place as Rhinelander's opponent for Saturday's nightcap at 8 p.m.
Sunday's matchups will be determined by Friday and Saturday's play. The top two teams will play for the title at 1 p.m., with the consolation game at 3:30.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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