July 12, 2021 at 9:11 a.m.
Rebels take 2 of 3 to start Merrill Invite
Rebels take 2 of 3 to start Merrill Invite
The Rebels responded to their first loss of the summer by withtanding a late rally to defeat Merrill in extra innings, 9-5, on Friday night and then split its two games on Saturday, beating D.C. Everest 7-3 before falling to Holmen 5-3.
The Rebels were set to play Everest again Sunday afternoon in a game that concluded after deadline for this edition.
Regardless of that result, Rebels' manager Dan Huhnstock said the weekend performance was exactly what the team needed as a dress rehearsal for the AA Regional tournament in a week and a half.
"Like I've said for many years, this is sort of our raise the bar tournament and the kids are up to it," he said.
Rhinelander 9, Merrill 5
The Rebels were one throw away from winning Friday night's opener in regulation, but responded and took advantage of some shaky Merrill defense to pull away in the eighth inning.
Merrill rallied from down 5-0 in the sixth to tie it - the last two runs coming when catcher Joe Schneider misfired to first trying to complete a game-ended double play with the bases loaded in the seventh. But Rhinelander plated four in the eighth thanks to three Merrill errors and walked away with a 9-5 victory.
Quinn Lamers, who recorded three doubles in the game, drove home the go-ahead run as he reached on an error in the top of the eighth. Joe Schneider then reached on a fielder's choice and Walker Hartman singled up the middle to score Lamers before Ryan Jamison and Kolby Ridderbusch reached on back-to-back two-out errors that allowed Schneider and Hartman to score.
Hartman then came on to pitch a perfect bottom of the eighth with a strikeout to secure the win.
"They scrapped and fought their way back into it. We came up and put four on them right away in the top of the eighth. It was a very good win," Huhnstock said.
The first of Lamers' three doubles scored Tim Fox and Owen Kurtz to make it 2-0 in the third. Lamers doubled again to lead off the fifth, stole third and scored when catcher Connor Cortright's attempt to throw him out sailed into the outfield. Jamison added an RBI single to score Hartman later in the inning. Sam Schneider singled and scored on an Isaac Bixby base knock to make it 5-0 Rebels in the sixth.
Merrill, however, started to figure out Lamers the third time through the order. Back-to-back RBI singles by Spencer Schneider and Mason Johnson cut the lead to 5-2 in the sixth, and Merrill could have perhaps drawn closer and the Rebels not thrown Schneider out attempting to steal third.
Merrill strung four straight one-out hits off Lamers in the seventh to cut the lead to 5-3 before Nate Brzoznowski grounded back to the pitcher's mound. Lamers threw home for the second out, but Joe Schneider's throw to first got by into right field in an attempt to complete the double play. Lamers got Spencer Schneider to fly out to center to send the game to extras.
Thanks to the Rebels' outburst in the eighth, Lamers still got the win, allowing three earned runs on eight hits over seven innings.
"Can't say enough about the game he pitched and his approaches at the plate were just awesome. He really threw a great game for us tonight," Huhnstock said.
Bixby had two hits in the contest for Rhinelander, as did Fox - both on bunt singles. Fox also had a sacrifice bunt in the contest.
"Timmy worked real hard on bunting this spring. He's done a real good job of getting them done today," Huhnstock said.
Rhinelander 7, Everest 3
Despite getting outhit 9-6, the Rebels took advantage of two key Everest mistakes in a 7-3 victory Saturday morning.
Twice Everest shortstops committed two-out throwing errors that allowed two Rhinelander runs to score. That proved to be the difference in the contest.
The first came in the second inning. Lamers grounded to short, but Wyatt Miles misfired on the flip to second base, allowing Devyn Orth and Tim Fox to score an put the Rebels up 3-2.
In the fifth, with the Rebels clinging to a 4-3 lead, Sam Schneider hit a two-out bases loaded grounder to short. Chris Weisman's throw to first sailed high, allowing Hartman and Ridderbusch to score. Fox later scored on a wild pitch to make it 7-3.
Of the seven runs the Rebels scored, only one was attached to an RBI - and that was a bases-loaded walk by Bixby in the second.
"You've got to take advantage of whatever any other team gives you," Huhnstock said. "Today we were able to and that's the way you win games - make less mistakes than the other team."
Though Everest hit Jamison hard at times - collecting five extra-base hits in the contest - Jamison was able to scatter those hits enough to limit the damage. Everest scored two in the first on RBI singles by Justin Reimer and Ever Gartzke, and tied the game a 3 in the third on an RBI double by Weisman, but Jamison did not allow another run in a complete game effort with three strikeouts.
"Jamison threw a heck of a game, a complete game in the first game," Huhnstock said. "Whenever you can get a complete-game victory out of a pitcher at this level, or any level now, it's absolutely awesome."
Holmen 5, Rhinelander 3
The Rebels were playing catchup most of the way in Saturday's second game after Holmen put up three runs in the bottom of the first. That proved to be enough of a cushion to win 5-3.
Rhinelander jumped out to an early 1-0 lead, stringing together three hits in the top of the first, including an RBI single by Jamison that scored Lamers, but Holmen took the lead in the bottom of the inning as Adam Quam doubled to deep right, scoring two and Gunnar Willstead added an RBI single. Mason Palmer scored insurance runs for Holmen in the fourth and sixth innings with singles and then steals to get into scoring position. Xavier Palmer drove him in with a groundout in the fourth and Quam scored him on a sacrifice fly in the sixth.
The Rebels got single runs in the fourth and fifth. Ridderbusch singled and scored on a Sam Schneider grounder in the fourth while Lamers reached on an infield hit in the fifth, took second on an errant pick off attempt and scored on a base hit by Joe Schneider. Schneider, representing the tying run, got to second with a steal, but Jamison struck out and Hartman grounded out to short to end Rhinelander's last best threat.
"We had chances to win the second game too, we just didn't quite come up with the clutch hit when we needed it," Huhnstock said. "Still an excellent effort by the whole team today. I can't say anything more about their hard work and effort out there. They played good, smart baseball and hard-fought baseball.
"We gave them everything that they had asked for. They're a very good, quality team - traditionally one of the best teams in the state for AA American Legion baseball. I'm very proud of the way the boys battled in this one."
Orth took the loss, allowing five runs on nine hits over five-plus innings or work.
Up next
Rhinelander hosts Medford on Wednesday in a game that will determine the top two seeds for the upcoming GLNC tournament. Regardless of the outcome, Rhinelander will host a league semifinal game on Friday at Stafford Field. Should Rhinelander advance, the championship game is slated for July 19.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
Comments:
You must login to comment.