June 13, 2022 at 10:03 a.m.
Rebels roll to 3-0 start
Post 7 sweeps Northwoods, beats Antigo
Rebels roll to 3-0 start
The three-headed pitching monster of Ryan Jamison, Isaac Bixby and Joe Schneider was dominant late last week as the Rebels opened the season with three wins in three days. Rhinelander beat Northwoods and Antigo by matching 4-0 scores at home Wednesday and Thursday before completing a Great Northern Legion Conference sweep of Northwoods with a 16-4 romp Friday in Eagle River.
Jamison and Bixby were particularly sharp, giving up two hits each in complete-game victories. Schneider, in only his second pitching appearance since offseason knee surgery, struggled at times with command Friday night, but got plenty of run support as Northwoods' pitching staff had difficulty getting the ball over the plate as well.
"It's going to be scary," Rebels coach Joe Patrone said of the team's starting rotation. "Joe really didn't do too much pitching in the season. Really, this is his first game (experience). I thought he did great and he'll keep working hard. He's a hard worker and he'll keep plugging."
Patrone served as acting manager for the three games while Dan Huhnstock recovered from an illness.
Rhinelander 4, Northwoods 0
The Rebels did something no Great Northern Conference team did this spring -score an earned run off lefty Landyn Hoeft. Rhinelander tagged the Northland Pines junior-to-be for three earned runs, to be precise, in a three-run fourth inning that proved to be the key in Wednesday night's season-opening victory.
The Hodags had five hits in all during the fourth. Jamison led things off with a double before Joe Schneider dropped down a bunt for a base hit. Schneider then stole second and Jamison scored when the throw down sailed into the outfield. Sam Schneider followed with a double to plate his older brother and scored two batters later on an Owen Kurtz sacrifice fly.
"We strung some hard hits, a couple of key bunts and that's all it takes," coach Patrone said. "It was good to go out and get a win off him. We heard a lot about him and he pitches hard. We hit him. We played good ball tonight."
Rhinelander tacked on one more run in the sixth as Adrian Patrone walked and eventually came around on a passed ball.
That was plenty of run support for Jamison who, thanks to a caught stealing and two double play balls, faced the minimum through six innings. A leadoff error in the seventh and a two-out walk meant he had to face 23 batters to get 21 outs, but the Eagles only advanced one runner into scoring position all night as Jamison struck out eight and walked two in an efficient 92-pitch effort.
Devin Kevilus singled off Jamison to start the game, but was immediately erased trying to steal second. Hoeft hit a leadoff single in the fourth, but Jack Bunter followed by grounding into a double play.
"Jamo was doing great, humming along. He had good location and starting where we left off. He looked good tonight," coach Patrone said.
The Rebels had nine hits from eight different players in the contest. Jamison finished 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored.
Rhinelander 4, Antigo 0
Thursday's game against the Typhoon was nearly a carbon-copy of Wednesday's contest. Bixby, coming off his freshman season pitching for UW-Platteville, fanned 10 over seven innings and the Rebels did bulk of their damage again in the fourth inning to pick up a non-conference win.
Jacksen Smith went 2-for-2 with three RBIs in the contest. He walked and scored in the third inning, hit a two-run single with the bases loaded following three straight walks in the fourth and tacked on a two-out, RBI double in the sixth to score Devyn Orth.
"Jacksen had a great night at the plate," coach Patrone said. "We really came out in the fourth again an hit the ball hard. A lot of innings we got guys on and just couldn't capitalize, but the fourth inning really proved to be the one."
Bixby, like Jamison the night before, scattered two hits and worked around a pair of walks. The Typhoon, trailing 1-0 at the time, appeared as though they would mount a rally in the fourth as Luke Pecore drew a leadoff walk followed by a Mason Gray single, but Sam Schneider made an alert throw from behind the plate to pick Pecore off second base, Kurtz flagged down a Conner Kolz fly ball to the warning track in left and Bixby struck out Will Kubeny to get out of the jam.
Bixby allow a leadoff single to Jacob Hanus in the fifth before retiring the final nine batters he faced, finishing right at the American Legion maximum daily limit of 105 pitches.
"He's a heck of a kid," Patrone said. "He's one of those kids that keeps bringing it. It's great to have him on the team this year. He pitched a great game."
Jamison had a double that drove in Smith in the third inning as the Rebels outhit the Typhoon, 6-2.
Rhinelander 16, Northwood 4
The Rebels didn't wait to get the bats going on Friday, scoring nine times against errant Eagle pitching in their first two at-bats as they cruised to a five-inning win.
Bixby walked and stole third in the top of the first inning, scoring when the throw to third sailed long. Joe Schneider and Kolby Ridderbusch had RBI singles and the Hodags drew six walks, including bases-loaded walks by AJ Turek and Bixby that forced in the final two runs of the frame.
It was more of the same in the third as Sam Schneider singled, Max Ratty reached on an error and Ian Miller walked to load the bases with one out for Ridderbusch, who drew a walk to force in a run. Adrian Patrone followed with an RBI single before AJ Turek knocked in two with a base hit to right.
Joe Schneider tried to work within a tight zone, but walked seven batters over 3 1/3 innings. He walked the bases loaded with two out in the second but got Brandon Baumann to ground out to short to end the threat. He nearly worked around two walks in the third, but a dropped third strike with two outs allowed Matthew Vedder to reach, and Kevilus to score all the way from second.
Joe Schneider still carried a no-hitter in the fourth before Brady Beyer hit a sharp comebacker up the middle that deflected off Schneider for an infield hit.
"He worked through some command, but he did a good job working through things, bounced back pretty good and pitched a great game," coach Patrone said.
Rhinelander tacked on six more runs in the fourth. Cody Everson had an RBI on a bases-loaded fly to shallow center that found the grass, but the Eagles were able to get Turek at second for a fielder's choice. Jamison followed with an RBI single, Sam Schneider added a two-run single and Rhinelander drew two more bases-loaded walks, by Ridderbusch and Adrian Patrone.
Joe Schneider doubled and scored on an error in the fifth.
"We hit the ball tonight again. Everybody on our bench played well. Everybody contributed tonight," coach Patrone said.
The Eagles threatened to mount a rally to extend the game against Orth, who came on in relief in the fourth. Northwoods string four straight hits off him to lead off the fifth, including RBI singles by Vedder and James McCormack. Beyer added a run-scoring sacrifice bunt, but Orth struck out Michael Warwick and got Brady Maines to ground out to end the contest.
Rhinelander (3-0, 2-0 GNLC) traveled to Crandon Monday for a conference contest that concluded after deadline. Crandon makes the return trip to Rhinelander Wednesday night before the Rebels host their annual invite this Friday through Sunday.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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