May 14, 2018 at 12:06 p.m.
Woes continue for Hodags in Rapids sweep
Woes continue for Hodags in Rapids sweep
The Hodags did themselves no favors on Saturday, as their recent offensive woes bled into their pitching and defense and they were swept in a doubleheader by Wisconsin Rapids at Stafford Field.
Rhinelander couldn't come up with a clutch hit in game 1 and Rapids shelled starter Bryce Schickert in a 13-3 loss. The Hodags' hitting and defense reached season-lows in game 2 as they were held to two hits and committed five errors in a 6-0 shutout defeat.
"We can't let our struggles offensively carry out to defense and the mound," coach Joe Waksmonski said afterward. "That's two different facets of the game that you have to somehow separate. I don't like to use that as an excuse for pitching and defensive struggles. I think there was some tough plays out there. Our field was kind of hard but they seemed to make a lot of the routine plays where we seemed to struggle."
Following a 9-0 start, the Hodags have now dropped five in a row ahead of a conference showdown against Antigo this afternoon.
Things unraveled for the Hodags and Schickert in the third inning of game 1 as Wisconsin Rapids scored six times to blow the game open.
Rapids strung a walk and three straight hits off Schickert to lead off the inning. Jacob Mancl added a sacrifice bunt that drove in a run. After that, Caleb Krommenakker was hit by a pitch, Cody Bredl and Nate Jackan recorded infield hits and Frank Hartman drew a walk with the bases loaded to cap off the scoring and chase Schickert from the bump.
Schickert, who entered the game with a team-best 1.32 ERA, allowed seven runs on nine hits in only 2 2/3 innings.
"Again, a lot of that had to do with the two-strike hitting," Waksmonski said. "There were opportunities where we could have gotten out of those inning and to compound the two-strike hitting, he had a couple of walks in there, a hit batter and not a lot of stellar defense behind him either."
Meanwhile Rhinelander scored its runs in game 1 without the aid of an RBI.
Cole Spaulding tied the game at 1 in the first, coming home from third after Mancl misfired to second on Jacob DeMeyer's stolen base attempt.
Rhinelander closed to within 7-3 in the fourth with the bases loaded as Schickert scored on a wild pitch and Eric Grulke scored behind him when a throw from the backstop to home plate went long and sailed toward second base.
Rapids answered with a four-spot in the fifth inning, however, and Hartman added a two-run double in the sixth that drove in what proved to be the clinching run.
Rhinelander's defense dug itself a 4-0 hole early in game 2. An one-out error extended the inning and Hartman added an RBI ground out before Donovan Brandl hit a two-out RBI single up the middle.
An error following a stolen base attempt in the second allowed Josh Zwicke to get to third. He scored moments later on a Jack Wenzel single. And the Hodags committed two errors on slow rollers up the third-base line in the fourth that eventually led to two runs scoring.
"There were plays out there to be made that were left, routine plays," Waksmonski said. "That forced our pitchers to throw more pitches and gave their top hitters chances to hit with runners in scoring position and they took advantage of that today."
Meanwhile Rhinelander continued to come up empty with runners in scoring position. Spaulding lined out to left with the bases loaded to end the second and the Hodags could do nothing in the third after Brad Quade and DeMeyer led off with the team's only hits of the contest.
The Hodag offense has certainly been in a funk as of late. The Hodags averaged 9.3 runs per game in their nine-game winning streak. Rhinelander has scored only 10 runs combined in the last five games, all losses.
"The thing is we've got to somehow stay positive and believe in ourselves," Waksmonski said. "That's what we're seeing right now. We're seeing some guys who are kind of down and we have to find a way to get our mojo again, get those clutch hits and get the snowball going in the right direction."
Josh Randolph took the loss in game 2 allowing five runs, but only one earned, on four hits over four innings. Rapids tacked on an unearned run in the sixth against reliever Owen White.
Rhinelander changed things up defensively in game 2, moving Brad Comer to catcher and Jacob DeMeyer to short - the projected defensive alignment to start the season before Walker Hartman established himself at catcher. DeMeyer made two errors in the game, but made a nice play on a tough hop in the seventh. Comer was 0 for 4 throwing out runners in the second game.
"I thought Brad did a nice job behind the plate, nice job blocking the ball. He's got a strong arm to throw to second base," Waksmonski said. "JD, there was just a couple of times where they stole a base and he wasn't quite in the right position. There's a couple mental things there we need to clear up but, physically I thought JD did a nice job."
Rhinelander still has a faint chance to earn a share of the GNC title but, to do it, the Hodags will have to sweep Antigo today, Tomahawk on Thursday and hope Mosinee beats Antigo on Thursday.
Today's doubleheader gets underway at 4 p.m. at Stafford Field.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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