May 3, 2019 at 1:57 p.m.
Big innings, big wins
Hodag baseball scores in bunches to sweep T-Birds
Big innings, big wins
The Hodags used big innings in both contests to sweep a doubleheader from the Lakeland Thunderbirds 12-8 and 8-0 at Lakeland Union High School in Minocqua.
The Hodags scored six times in the first inning of Game 1 and tacked on four needed insurance runs in the seventh. Rhinelander broke Game 2 open with a five-run fifth inning while Josh Randolph homered twice on the day and pitched a three-hit shutout in Game 2.
"That's really high school baseball," RHS baseball coach Joe Waksmonski said. "The team that has the big inning is usually the team that wins. The more runs you can get in that big inning, the better off you're going to be."
The turning point in Game 1 happened early as, with runners on the corners and two outs, Payton Johnson hit a slow roller left of the mound that pitcher Parker Biertzer could not field cleanly. Rhinelander made Lakeland pay dearly for giving it an extra out.
Randolph came through with a two-run double down the left field line, Liam Stevens followed with an infield RBI hit deep in the hole at shortstop and Bryce Schickert smashed a three-run homer to left center, giving Rhinelander an early 6-0 lead.
Randolph, Stevens and Schickert had big games at the plate in Game 1. Hitting sixth, seventh and eighth in the Hodags' lineup, the three seniors went a combined 7-for-11 with two home runs and 11 of the team's 12 RBIs in the contest.
"Parker's a good pitcher. We've seen him many times over the years, but I thought we had some great at-bats, especially toward the end of our lineup in Game 1," Waksmonski said. "We had seven or eight hits just in that 6-7-8-9 part of the lineup. We had a lot of production there, and good to see."
Randolph added a solo home run off Biertzer in the third and the Hodags got a sacrifice fly RBI from Martin Hoger in the fourth. That was it for Rhinelander until the bats came alive again in the seventh.
Leading 8-4, Abe Laggis got things going with a leadoff single to right. An infield hit to short by Hoger and a bunt single by Eric Grulke loaded the bases with nobody out. Randolph was hit by a pitch two batters later to force in a run and Stevens followed with a three-run double to center to make it 12-4.
It turned out Rhinelander needed that insurance as two errors plagued the Hodags' cause in the bottom of the inning, and let Lakeland plate four runs. The T-Birds eventually got the tying run to the on deck circle, but Stevens put out the fire, getting Brandon Boh to pop out to end the game.
"It was more or less self-inflicted," Waksmonski said of Lakeland's seventh-inning rally. "There were many infield ground balls where plays should have been made and we just didn't make them. We talk a lot about trying to keep our focus regardless of the score. You have to get 21 outs. You can't take a knee in baseball. You have to stay focused. We obviously lost our focus in the seventh inning of Game 1 but, fortunately we were able to hang on and we could talk about it. Looking back on it, it wasn't a complete negative, but it definitely refocused our guys for Game 2."
Sophomore Isaac Bixby (2-0) started and earned the win in Game 1. Though he allowed 10 hits over six innings he was able to work his way out of tight spots with minimal damage as Lakeland stranded six runners in scoring position.
"Isaac is not afraid of the moment. He has a lot of moxie and a lot of poise on the mound for a sophomore," Waksmonski said. "He's not the type of pitcher that's going to throw it by anyone by any stretch of the imagination. He's the type of pitcher that's going to hit his spots and be able to throw his curveball for strikes early in the count. For the most part he did that. We got six innings from his and it was a great start from him."
The Hodags got an even better start from Randolph, who was on point in an 85-pitch, complete-game effort. Lakeland collected a hit off Randolph in each of the first three innings, but had only one base runner from the fourth inning on. Thanks to a double play ball and a runner caught stealing, Randolph faced two batters over the minimum in the game, striking out five and walking only one.
"He came in and was throwing strikes," Waksmonski said. "Obviously he throws a three-hit shutout but for the first 4 1/2, 5 innings, it was a 1-0 ball game. Josh did a great job of hitting both sides of the plate, mixing in a nice curveball. A couple of the Lakeland hitters looked a little foolish and that's the way Josh is. He's a strikeout pitcher and he did a great job."
It was a close game much of the way. Danny Zuiker's error-aided run in the first was the only run for either side until the fifth, but the Hodags finally got to Lakeland Game 2 starter Keegan McJoynt. Hoger hit an RBI single to get things started for the Hodags and Grulke followed with a line shot for an RBI that nicked off McJoynt's glove before settling safely in the infield. Stevens doubled in singled in a run two batters later to make it 4-0 and chase McJoynt from the mound.
"The first two times through the order (McJoynt) shut us down," Waksmonski said. "I was proud of the guys. We just kept talking, having a plan and, the third time through, you could kind of see those plans come to fruition there. We had some great at bats there and we were finally able to knock him out."
Lakeland's relievers did not fare any better. Bryce Gilbertson failed to record an out in the three batters he faced and was pulled after issuing a bases-loaded walk to Bixby. Michael Campbell came in and hit Zuiker with his very first pitch to bring in another run. Rhinelander nearly scored more in the inning, but Tim Fox was called out on a close play at home, trying to score from third following a wild pitch.
Fittingly, in the sixth, Randolph delivered the final blow, a two-run homer that put the Hodags ahead 8-0.
The wins moved Rhinelander to 6-2 overall and 4-2 in the GNC ahead of a difficult week with plenty of conference and seeding implications. The Hodags canceled a Monday night non-conference game against Wausau East, ahead of taking on the top two teams in the GNC - Mosinee and Antigo - in back-to-back doubleheaders this coming Tuesday and Thursday.
"Those are going to be four big conference games and they're going to play a huge role in how things shake out, standings-wise," Waksmonski said. "You've got to bring your 'A' game and you've got to bring it for 14 innings each day against those ball clubs. If you make some mistakes, or even if you lose your focus, those are the teams that can make you pay in a hurry."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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