August 1, 2022 at 8:32 a.m.
Two and out
Offensive slump spells early exit for Rebels at state
Two and out
River Falls shut out Rhinelander 3-0 in the first round of the double-elimination Legion AA State Tournament Friday at Jones Park. On Saturday, the Rebels could only muster one hit and fell to Fort Atkinson 3-2.
For a team that came into the tournament ranked second in the Class AA state rankings and had aspirations of making a deep run in its first state trip in 10 years, Saturday's ending was equal parts stunning and heartbreaking.
"All the really good stuff we did this year and we didn't play our ball," Rebels manager Dan Huhnstock said. "Part of it is we faced other very good teams, but we've done that throughout the season and we've come out on top. It just wasn't in the cards for this weekend.
"We were just uncharacteristically cold at the plate all weekend down here. That's facing pretty decent pitching and pretty decent defense. These are the eight best teams in the state. You've got to expect that."
Despite getting only one hit off Fort Atkinson lefty Kroix Kucken, the Rebels led 2-0 in the sixth inning when one rough patch proved too much to overcome.
The game turned with the bases loaded and one out in the inning as Braeden Sayre hit a ground ball to Isaac Bixby at second. He flipped to Joe Schneider for the second out, but Schneider's throw to first sailed wide. The error allowed two runs to score and kept the inning alive for the Hawks.
Drew Kloster singled up the middle on the next pitch, which drove in Sayre for what proved to be the winning run.
"It was unfortunate. As I was talking with Joe after the game, I said, 'It happens.' That didn't cost us the game," Huhnstock said. "Not putting across enough runs cost us the game. It's a team game. Obviously, very little consolation to Joe right now."
Ryan Jamison scattered three hits over seven innings in the loss, but struggled with command in the sixth inning. In succession he walked Braden Hansen, hit Carson Schrader with a 3-2 pitch and walked Nate Hartwig to find himself in the bases-loaded, one-out jam.
"I don't think he was tiring, it was just more the fact that I thought he was rushing a little bit," Huhnstock said. "I went out and talked to him. He said, 'I'm fine. I wanted to pick up the pace a little bit.' I just told him to take a breath, relax, we're in no hurry here, just make your pitches count."
The Rebels had taken advantage of some Fort Atkinson mistakes to have the lead heading to the sixth. Bixby scored after drawing a two-out walk in the third, thanks to a pair of wild pitches and a passed ball. Sam Schneider singled to lead off the fourth and scored when Kolby Ridderbusch reached on an errant throw to first by Sayre at short.
Kucken struck out six and walked three over seven innings. Though the Rebels made contact, most of the time it led to routine defensive plays.
"It's hard to win on one hit. We did scrape across two runs, but it's very hard to win on one hit," Huhnstock said. "They made plays and we didn't have a lot of hard-hit balls. (Kucken) was just erratic enough, wild enough that it kept us kind of off balance."
Rhinelander had the tying and go-ahead runs on base after Kucken walked Sam Schneider and hit Max Ratty with a pitch with one out in the sixth. Devyn Orth hit a fly to shallow right that turned into a fielder's choice and Ridderbusch flew out to center to end the inning.
The Rebels had one last faint pulse in the seventh as Bixby reached on a two-out error, but Jamison rolled out to short to end the game.
Huhnstock said it was the loss was especially devastating for an upper-classmen laden squad that was led all year by the standout pitching/infield trio of Bixby, Jamison and Joe Schneider.
"I couldn't ask for a better bunch of leaders," Huhnstock said, fighting back tears.
Rhinelander managed five hits in Friday's opener against River Falls, but hit into double plays in both the first and second innings. The Rebels were also thrown out three times on stolen base attempts, including a strike-them-out, throw-them-out double play of Jamison and Bixby in the sixth.
The Rebels had only two runners in scoring position in Friday's game. Joe Schneider got there, stealing second after a two-out single in the fourth, but Sam Schneider grounded out to end the inning. Ratty singled to lead off the fifth and moved to second on Cody Everson's grounder, but he was thrown out trying to take third on a dropped third strike that allowed Orth to reach base.
"We hit into three double play balls and had a couple of base-running blunders that took us out of innings where we should have been able to put some runs together," Huhnstock said. "They made plays when they had opportunities and won the game because of it."
River Falls scored first as Chase McQuade hit a two-out double in the opening inning. Bixby followed with his only walk of the game, to Elijah Baker, before Cayden Mueller hit an RBI single.
Bixby lasted only 4 1/3 innings in an effort to limit his pitch count and make sure he would be eligible to pitch later in the tournament, provided the Rebels made it that far. Jacksen Smith went the final 2 2/3 innings and gave up two runs with two out in the seventh. McQuade singled to give River Falls runners at the corners and Zach Cleveland scored on an errant pickoff attempt by Smith. McQuade got to second on the play and scored moments later on a Baker base hit.
The Rebels ended their season 21-5 and now will have to look ahead to next spring and summer with much of the talent from the last couple of years gone. The Rebels will say goodbye to age-eligible class of 2021 players Bixby, Orth and Miller, along with Joe Schneider, who will not be age-eligible to return following his freshman year at UW-Stevens Point.
"They set a high standard of excellence for future Rebels to aspire to," Huhnstock said. "We've got some huge holes to fill for next year, but a number of these guys got a taste of what it takes to be on a team that is competitive every game, game in and game out. Hopefully the younger guys learn from that and take something from it."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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