July 11, 2022 at 10:50 a.m.
Rebels fall in battle of state's top teams
Rebels fall in battle of state's top teams
Rhinelander committed errors on three straight plays to lead off the third inning, which led to the two runs that were the difference as the Vikings defeated the Rebels 2-0 as part of the Merrill Invitational at Athletic Park.
Rhinelander won its two other games in pool play of the invite and was set to meet the Vikings again Sunday in the championship game of the tournament, which concluded after deadline for today's edition.
"It was a very well-played game, a very well-pitched game by both sides," Rebels manager Dan Huhnstock said. "It is what we expected. It was going to be a low-scoring, well-played game when you have No. 1 vs. No. 2 in the state with everybody being there for both teams. It was just what I expected.
"We can play with them when we have our pitching lined up. I'm looking forward to playing them later in the season, hopefully."
The third meeting, if there is one, would take place at the Class AA state tournament in Fort Atkinson.
Troy Grabowenski reached on an error to short to start the fateful third inning for Holmen Saturday. Xavier Palmer then followed with a flare to right that popped out of Jacksen Smith's glove, giving the Vikings runners at second and third with nobody out. Jack Walter then reached, and two runs scored when Joe Schneider fired low to first base on another ground ball to short.
"We gave them a couple of extra outs and had a couple of errors there. Being a very good team, they took advantage," Huhnstock said.
That was the only blemish for Rebels' ace Isaac Bixby, who scattered seven hits over seven innings, allowed the two unearned runs and struck out five.
Holmen's big inning immediately followed one of Rhinelander's best chances to score as Bixby and Ryan Jamison singled and Sam Schneider walked to load the bases with two out in the top of the third, but Max Ratty grounded out to first to end the threat. Rhinelander had a chance again in the sixth after singles by Sam Schneider and Ratty to lead off the inning, but Kolby Ridderbusch bounced into a double play and Owen Kurtz grounded out to end the inning.
The Rebels got six hits off Holmen starter Troy Knutson over six innings, but were unable to push across any runs.
"We had scoring opportunities and we just push any through," Huhnstock said. "We've got to make all the plays we can and come up with some runners in scoring position. It's just that simple. We've got to play a clean game. We have to have good pitching and we have to have clutch hits."
Rhinelander 8, Everest 3
Rhinelander won its two other games in pool play, beginning Friday night by avenging what, to that point, had been its only loss of the season.
Jamison struck out nine over seven innings, Sam Schneider homered and Kurtz chipped in three RBIs as the Rebels downed Everest 8-3.
Rhinelander pounced on Everest for three runs in the top of the first and never looked back. Bixby walked while Jamison and Joe Schneider both reached on errors to load the bases with nobody out. Bixby later scored on a wild pitch before Kurtz hit a two-out single to left to give Rhinelander a 3-0 lead.
"We played a good ball game," Huhnstock said. "Ryan threw very, very well for us and we made enough plays defensively and had some nice hitting. We bunted the ball a little bit, just played some good, team ball."
Kurtz added to the lead in the third with a sacrifice fly that scored Joe Schneider. Everest got two back in the fourth on a two-out base hit by Andrew Cotter, but Rhinelander answered in the fifth with its first home run of the summer, a Sam Schneider blast to deep left that made it 6-2.
Jamison added an RBI single in the sixth and Joe Schneider added a sacrifice fly. Everest got one back in the bottom of the inning on another RBI hit by Cotter.
Jamison had only two hiccups in another strong outing. Through five innings, he had thrown only eight balls in 55 total pitches. He needed 42 pitches to get through the final two frames, but was able to hold on to finish the complete game.
"He was really dialed in early," Huhnstock said. "I think he was starting to tire. It's a warm night out and we've been trying to not stretch him out too much recently. He's had a huge workload this summer already, but he answered the bell for us tonight very well."
Rhinelander 13, Merrill 3
The Rebels took their frustrations from the Holmen loss out on the bottom of Merrill's rotation. All nine starters had at least one hit, Sam Schneider drove in seven runs and the Rebels routed Post 46 13-3 in five innings Saturday night.
Down 1-0 after two innings, the Rebels teed off on starter Brady Kanitz in the third. After Seth Nofftz drew a leadoff walk, the top four in the order all got hits, capped off by a two-run single by Joe Schneider and a two-run double by Sam Schneider to make it a 4-1 game.
Sam Schneider cleared the bases with a three-run double and scored on a single by Kurtz in the fourth and Rhinelander tacked on five more in the fifth. Jamison doubled home Cody Everson. Up again with the bases loaded, Sam Schneider hit a two-run single to right and later scored on a wild pitch.
"He was up at the right time. He definitely came through in the clutch for," Huhnstock said.
Tyler Morrison added an RBI single that made it 13-1 in the fifth, which proved to be an important run as the Rebels gave up two runs in the bottom of the inning on an RBI groundout and a wild pitch. Merrill got the game-extending run to second with two outs following a dropped third strike, but Brady Norton grounded into a fielder's choice to third to end the game.
Joe Schneider went five innings, allowing three runs on three hits with four walks and eight strikeouts to earn the win. He was already at 97 pitches through five innings, eight shy of the daily limit. Ratty was the only other eligible and available arm Saturday night.
"It was very important to get that finished up," Huhnstock said. "That way we didn't have to go into our bullpen at all. That way we have Max and Jacksen for pitching tomorrow."
Rhinelander 7, Crandon 1
Prior to the weekend tournament, the Rebels picked up a non-conference game with Crandon which took place Wednesday at Stafford Field. The Rebels broke things open with a four-run fifth and used four different pitchers to get by Crandon, 7-1.
The Rebels led 3-0 heading to the fifth. Jamison tripled home Bixby and Joe Schneider drove in Jamison to make it 5-0. Smith and Devyn Orth added back-to-back two-out RBI hits to make it 7-0.
Bixby, Jamison and Smith all pitched two innings and combined to strike out 11 batters in essentially a bullpen game for the Rebel pitching staff. Orth closed out the game in the seventh.
"We got a win. We got innings in for some pitchers that haven't thrown. We wanted to get some bullpen in for them," Huhnstock said. "We accomplished what we set out to do, win the game and throw different pitchers."
Ratty hit a two-run single with two outs in the first to put Rhinelander on the board. Sam Schneider's infield hit in the third scored Bixby and made it a 3-0 game.
Jamison named Legion All-Star
Jamison was honored Friday, named one of 48 players across the state to take part in the 2022 Wisconsin American Legion Baseball All-Star Game that will take place Aug. 7 at American Family Field in Milwaukee.
Through 17 games this summer, Jamison is hitting .518 for the Rebels with eight extra base hits and 10 RBIs. He's also 6-0 on the mound with a 0.75 ERA and 41 strikeouts over 36 2/3 innings pitched.
Rhinelander has had representation in each of the last three Legion All-Star games. Martin Hoger played in the contest in 2019 and Bixby played in last year's edition. There was no game in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
"We've done very well getting kids down there and the kids have been very well-deserving of the honor," Huhnstock said. "Ryan's numbers this summer are almost beyond compare, both pitching and in the field and at the play. He's a very well-rounded ball player. He's doing an excellent job for us and I'm sure he'll represent Rhinelander well."
Up next
Rhinelander (15-2, 6-0 GNLC) closes out Great Northern Legion Conference play against Minocqua this week. The Rebels head north to take on the 89ers tomorrow night and will host Minocqua on Friday at Stafford Field.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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