July 5, 2022 at 7:29 a.m.
Rebels rout Medford 12-2 in rematch
Rebels rout Medford 12-2 in rematch
Rhinelander, No. 3 in the Wisconsin AA Legion baseball rankings, pounced on the fourth-ranked Raiders in a nine-run second inning and cruised to a 12-2 victory at Stafford Field.
Medford had only four of the nine starters from last Monday's 5-1 loss to the Rebels available for Wednesday's contest, and had no subs on Wednesday. The Raiders hung around, getting two runs on six hits off Ryan Jamison over six innings, but the Rebels' early lead was more than enough to take full-command of the GNLC title race.
"They're a little undermanned. They came to compete though," Rebels manager Dan Huhnstock said. "They're a good squad and they came to compete. Jamo pitched pretty well tonight, took the bats out of their hands and we got our bats going at key, opportune times."
The Rebels feasted on Medford starter Gavin Fuchs during a second inning in which they sent 15 batters to the plate. Fuchs walked the bases loaded with nobody out before Devyn Orth cleared them with a three-run double past a diving Alex Dittrich in left center. Cody Everson singled home Orth before AJ Turek walked and Jamison reached on an error. Fuchs threw two run-scoring wild pitches while Joe Schneider was at the plate, and then plunked Schneider with a 3-2 pitch, ending his time on the mound.
Sam Schneider reached on an error to third off reliever Tanner Hraby that allowed Jamison to score. Max Ratty was then hit by a pitch to re-load the bases. Orth walked two batters later to force in a run and Everson followed with his second RBI single of the inning to give Rhinelander a 9-0 lead.
Rhinelander tacked on one in the third as Isaac Bixby, Jamison and pinch hitter Seth Nofftz hit back-to-back-to-back singles to drive in a run.
After giving up two runs in the fourth, the Rebels had the clinching run at second with one out in the fifth following Nofftz's second hit of the game, but Adrian Patrone struck out and Tyler Morrison popped out to end that threat.
It looked as though the game was going to go the distance until Everson reached on a two-out error in the sixth, keeping the inning alive. Turek reached on an infield hit to second and both runners advanced on a throwing error, setting the stage for Bixby, who ended it with a two-run single down the left field line.
Jamison worked around some trouble in the middle innings to keep Medford at bay. He got Nick Steliga to ground out with the bases loaded to get out of the third scoreless and limited the damage in the fourth after the bottom of the Raider order went to hitting. Dittrich singled and Fuchs doubled to lead off the fourth, giving Medford its first run. Jake Eckert followed with a base hit before Carson Carbaugh grounded into a run-scoring fielder's choice. Hraby followed with a base hit to give Medford runners at first and second with one out before Jamison induced a double-play ball by Parker Lissner to get out of the jam.
Jamison benefitted from another twin killing after the first two batters of the fifth reached base. He then struck out the final four batters he faced and finished with six strikeouts overall in a 98-pitch effort.
"Jamo's a bulldog out there. He's a competitor," Huhnstock said. "He didn't look like he was real sharp out there, wasn't getting some calls maybe that he thought he should, but he battled right through and threw a quality game."
Rhinelander outhit Medford 10-6 in the game. Bixby went 3-for-5 with a couple of RBIs while two players not normally in the starting lineup - Everson and Nofftz - both collected a pair of hits.
"When they get their opportunity, they're going to produce because they are very good ball players," Huhnstock said.
The wins put Rhinelander in the driver's season for the GNLC title, two games up on Medford with four games to play, but Huhnstock said the team has much bigger aspirations than that as it tries to reach its first Wisconsin Class AA Legion state tournament in a decade.
"We do have bigger goals than the conference. Winning that is just part of our process of finishing the season," he said. "We've been playing good ball all summer long, but stay humble, stay hungry. We haven't made our goal yet."
The Rebels were at Tomahawk for a doubleheader Friday that concluded after the early holiday deadline for today's paper. Rhinelander defeated Tomahawk 12-0 and 8-1. A full report will be published in Friday's River News.
Mosinee drops out
Rhinelander's scheduled games with Mosinee will not be made up as Mosinee informed the conference that it intends to withdraw from the league this year due to a lack of participation in its senior legion program. The conference title will be decided in an eight-game round-robin of the five remaining teams - Crandon, Medford, Minocqua, Rhinelander at Tomahawk.
Crandon, which was scheduled to play Mosinee on Wednesday, has now picked up a third game with Rhinelander. The Rebels will host the non-conference contest at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Stafford Field.
Regional pairings announced
Rhinelander and Medford will feature prominently in a four-team bracket toward the end of the month as regional pairings for the Class AA tournament were announced Thursday by the Wisconsin American Legion.
Merrill will host the four-team regional, which also includes Antigo. Overall, 31 teams will compete in seven regionals in an attempt to qualify for the AA State Tournament held July 29-Aug. 2 in Fort Atkinson, which has an automatic berth as the tournament host.
Regionals will be held the weekend of July 22-24. The bracket and schedule for the Merrill regional will be announced at a later date.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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