May 23, 2018 at 12:59 p.m.
Hodags squander lead on senior night against Merrill
Hodags squander lead on senior night against Merrill
Those two facets of the game cost Rhinelander down the stretch as they gave up three runs in the top of the seventh on Monday and lost 11-10 to Merrill at Stafford Field.
Kordell Renken tied it for the Bluejays with a two-out, two-run double and Piersen Pyan drove in the go-ahead run four pitches later.
The comeback spoiled an offensive effort that saw Rhinelander collect 10 runs on 13 hits, but leave 11 men on base.
"We weren't good enough today and they were more clutch than we were," coach Joe Waksmonski said. "It was all three phases. It was pitching, defense, offense. It was not good enough. Pitching, we're not pitching sharp around the edges, leaving a lot of fat pitches for their guys to hit. They took advantage of them and then we, unfortunately, had a couple of miscues and gave them extra bases on top of that as well.
"Offensively, we scored 10 runs but I don't know how many times we left runners in scoring position throughout the game. Even there, though you score 10 runs, it's not good enough."
Rhinelander took a 10-8 lead in a seesaw game with a five-run fifth inning. The Hodags tied it on a two-run double by Brad Comer followed by a RBI single by Jacob DeMeyer, and then took the lead on a Cole Spaulding groundout. Rhinelander tacked on an insurance run after Owen White scored following an error that allowed Liam Stevens to reach base.
But lefty Bryce Schickert couldn't hold the lead for the Hodags after leading off the seventh, his fourth inning of work, with a leadoff walk to Brant Raleigh. He struck out Brody Gehrke and got Kole Meyer to pop out, but Chase Bonnell kept the inning alive with a single to bring up the heart of the Merrill order and the Bluejays' Nos. 3 and 4 hitters delivered.
Schickert gave up six hits over 3 2/3 innings of relief for Josh Randolph, who struggled Monday. Four days after tossing a complete-game one-hit shutout, Randolph allowed five runs on nine hits in only three innings of work agains the Bluejays.
"There was just a lack of sharpness to their games tonight," Waksmonski said of his junior pitchers. "We know what we have for a strike zone and we were not sharp with that strike zone. You give their pitchers credit. They were sharper than our pitchers at times."
Though Rhinelander was 8-for-20 with runners in scoring position, it left some key runs on the base paths. Randolph grounded out with the bases loaded and two outs as the Hodags came up empty in the third. The Hodags loaded the bases with two outs again in the fourth, but Schickert went down swinging to end the threat. The Hodags popped out three straight times after Abe Laggis got on second with nobody out in the sixth and Owen White was stranded at second as the tying-run in the seventh as Stevens grounded out to short.
Though Rhinelander collected 13 hits in the game, the production swung toward the top of the order. Comer and DeMeyer accounted for six hits and seven RBIs as Rhinelander's top five hitters were a combined 12-for-23 in the game while the bottom four were 1-for-13.
"We have to get more contributions from more guys throughout our lineup," Waksmonski said. "We can't be a three-hitter lineup. We need more guys being more consistent, giving more competitive at-bats."
The loss dropped the Hodags to 11-10 on the season following a 9-0 start. Rhinelander was still trying to find one more game prior to the playoffs, but had not found an opponent as of the deadline for this edition.
If the Hodags don't get another game in, Monday's loss will be a tough lesson to swallow for a team that will face the winner of today's Medford-Northland Pines game next Tuesday in the WIAA regional semifinals at Stafford Field.
"Hopefully, it's a lesson that anyone can beat anyone on any given day," Waksmonski said. "Ultimately, that's what postseason baseball is all about. Anyone can get anyone on any given day."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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