June 23, 2022 at 8:15 a.m.
Team review: RHS baseball
New-look Hodags came together in 2022
Team review: RHS baseball
The highlight of the spring came in the Hodags' playoff opener when Ryan Jamison and Jacksen Smith - the two seniors who had to shoulder the bulk of the pitching duties this spring after projected No. 1 Joe Schneider had offseason knee surgery - combined to no-hit Merrill in the WIAA tournament.
For his part Schneider, who worked tirelessly to get back on the diamond ahead of schedule, hit a home run as part of the 3-0 victory.
"To win a playoff game is one thing but, to do it in the fashion that we did it today, it's definitely really special," Hodag coach Joe Waksmonski said. "It's something they'll be talking about to their kids, their grandkids for the rest of their lives."
Rhinelander's run ended a few days later, at the hands of eventual state qualifier Mosinee, but the Hodags still finished above .500 at 9-8 overall and finished fourth in the Great Northern Conference despite replacing several key pieces of their sectional final squad from 2021.
"When you lose a player the caliber of Joe Schneider for as long as we did, not only as a pitcher, as a hitter, as a leader, to still finish above .500 speaks volumes about what we did have on our roster," Waksmonski said.
Here are five storylines from the recently completed season.
Pitching depth
Even without its top three pitchers from last year's sectional run, pitching proved to be a point of strength for the Hodags this spring.
Jamison, Rhinelander's fourth pitching option last spring, assumed the No. 1 role and went he went 5-3 on the season with a 3.17 ERA with 50 strikeouts over 46 2/3 innings.
"I think it was that mentality that when Joe went down, Ryan was going to be our ace. He was going to be our bulldog," Waksmonski said.
But the Hodags had surprising depth behind that. Smith settled into the No. 2 role, going 2-3 with a 3.91 ERA over 34 innings and Rhinelander got a life from sophomore Max Ratty who was 2-0 with a save and a 2.53 ERA over 19 1/3 innings.
Schneider's return
Entering the season, it was unknown if Joe Schneider would be back this spring following knee surgery in February, but he made his return to the diamond May 13 in a pinch-hit role and slowly worked his way back into the starting lineup.
Though Schneider only pitched once - touched up in 2 1/3 innings in the regular season finale at Mosinee - he hit .250 with a home run and three RBIs in only 12 at bats on the spring, and provided an emotional lift for the team down the stretch.
"I'm extremely proud of the way he conducted himself and helped our team," Waksmonski said. "It's not easy to be in that situation. We've had players like that before where they get hurt their senior year and they can't participate and they kind of withdraw from the team. With Joe, it just kind of added fuel to being a leader, to taking players under his wing and still giving his best to our program."
Conference buzzsaws
Rhinelander had its work cut out for it in the GNC following a pair of one-run losses to Antigo to start the conference campaign. With four games against Mosinee and Medford, who finished Nos. 2 and 4 in the final WBCA Division 2 poll before the state tournament, going any better than 6-6 in the league was always going to be a tough ask.
Jamison nearly took care of Medford, but didn't get much run support in a 2-1 loss to the Raiders. The three other games against the GNC's best proved to be lop-sided losses.
While Medford was senior dominated this spring, Mosinee had an influx of underclassman talent and enters 2023 as the prohibitive favorites in the conference.
"We do have a big mountain right in front of us," Waksmonski said during the team's banquet. "It's a lot of work to play catchup, but I think it's a lot of fun too. We have someone to chase. We have someone to compete with, not only one the field but off the field as well. I think it's a great challenge. It's a fun challenge."
Statbook
Though the Hodags averaged just over five runs per game, offense felt as though it came at a premium at times during the season. Rhinelander hit .252 as a team this spring and was held to three runs or fewer in 10 of their 17 games.
Jamison was Rhinelander's top hitter this spring. His .385 average, two triples and six extra-base hits all led the team. He had 12 RBIs on the season, second behind Sam Schneider (13) for the team lead. Junior AJ Turek was a surprising No. 2 in batting average this spring in his first year as a starter, hitting .342. Ratty (.313, 10 RBIs) and Sam Schneider (.311, 13 RBIs) were the only other players to hit above .300 this spring.
Joe Schneider and Owen Kurtz had the team's two home runs this spring.
Turek, Kurtz and Ratty were part of a young core for Rhinelander that helped fortify the seniors at the top of the order. Juniors Cody Everson and Tyler Morrison, sophomore James Heck and freshman Seth Nofftz also saw considerable playing time this spring.
"This whole group mad a lot of huge jumps in their skills this spring," Waksmonski noted. "A lot of our success as a team because the growth that this group experienced."
What's next
Rhinelander will enter 2023 with a number of the same questions it faced in 2022. The team will have to rebuild its pitching staff once more, with Ratty looking like the candidate for the top spot in the rotation, though, as of press time, it was uncertain how long he will be sidelined this summer after tweaking a knee in last weekend's Rebel Invite in American Legion play.
The Hodags graduated five starters from this year's starting lineup, and Ratty is the only player returning who pitched on varsity this spring.
Offensively, Sam Schneider, Ratty and Turek will return as the team's top hitters from this spring.
While the Rhinelander Rebels have aspirations of a state tournament run this summer, Waksmonski said he hoped the Legion season will also be used as a key phase in the development of next year's squad.
"We want our younger guys playing as much Legion as they can and, hopefully, they get a lot of playing time for Legion," he said. "I know there are some older guys talking about coming back, but if would be more than ideal if we can get some of our young arms to see as much game action, get as many innings as they can get."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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