May 16, 2022 at 3:18 p.m.
Rhinelander rallies past Eagles 10-5
Joe Schneider returns in pinch-hit role for Hodagss
Rhinelander rallies past Eagles 10-5
Sam Schneider hit a go-ahead triple in the fourth inning as the Hodags erased a four-run deficit and defeated Northland Pines 10-5 at Stafford Field. The younger Schneider had the biggest hit, but arguably the biggest at-bat of the day went to his brother, senior Joe Schneider, who was cleared to appear in a pinch-hit role for his first game action following offseason knee surgery.
"It was just good to see him get out there and have an at-bat because he's going to have to have an impact on the end of the season here going forward, in whatever way we can get him to have some sort of game experience going into the postseason," Hodag coach Joe Waksmonski said of the Hodags' top hitter and top returning pitcher from last year's WIAA sectional final run. "Hopefully by then the plan is to have him completely cleared."
Rhinelander moved a season-best three games clear of .500 with the win, but it took some patience and perseverance. The Eagles surprised ace Ryan Jamison, tagging him for four runs in the second inning, and led 5-1 with the bases clear and two out in the fourth inning.
Rhinelander responded by getting the next six batters on base to take the lead with a five-run rally. The Hodags added three more in the fifth and another run in the sixth -once again after facing nobody on and two outs in both of those innings.
"Hitting is contagious. When you get a couple of guys that hit the ball hard and you go up to the plate yourself with a little extra pep in your step and you feel like you're going to get a good pitch to hit," Waksmonski said. "I felt that's kind of what happened with our rallies. Once we got one or two guys going, then it got most of our guys going."
Senior Logan Schmoeger had a pair of hits for Rhinelander and sparked the rallies in both the fourth and fifth innings. He singled up the middle in the fourth for what was at the time only the second hit allowed by Eagles' starter Owen Will.
From there James Heck smashed an RBI double off the fence in left center, AJ Turek hit a line drive to left to score Heck, Jacksen Smith walked, Jamison singled home Turek on a full count and Sam Schneider drove in the tying and go-ahead runs on a smash deep into the right-center gap.
"That particular pitch with the triple, it was a pitch that was away and the Sam Schneider that we know is one who's going to take that pitch to right center," Waksmonski said. "We reminded him about that a little bit and that might have been in the back of his head, let the ball come to him. Sam's a good hitter and a strong kid. When he hits the ball solid, it's going to fly."
Schmoeger flared a single into shallow center to keep the fifth inning alive, and then the Northland Pines defense fell apart, gifting Rhinelander three insurance runs. Isaac Sellnow mishandled and then misfired on a ground ball by Heck to third. Heck wound up at third on the play as a hurried throw home to try to retire Schmoeger went up the line. From there, Turek reached on an error to third that plated Heck and Smith delivered an RBI single to make it 9-5.
Kolby Ridderbusch singled to keep things alive in the sixth and stole second before Owen Kurtz drove him in with a single to left.
That was enough run support for Jamison to overcome a couple of shaky innings on the mound. Jack Bunter and Austin Samanske started the second with back-to-back doubles to deep right on a gusty afternoon at Hodag Park. From there, James McCormack walked and Jamison misfired in an attempt to retire Brady Beyer on a sacrifice bunt, allowing two more runs to score. Beyer wound up at third on the play and came around on a groundout by Eric Nagel.
Jamison then walked Matthew Vedder to lead off the third. Samanske smashed his second double of the game two batters later to give a Northland Pines team that had already upset Antigo and Medford this spring a surprising 5-1 lead.
"We had a rough go of it there in the beginning," Waksmonski said. "The first three innings was not our best baseball of the year so far, a lot of mistakes offensively and defensively. Give Northland Pines credit too. They were hitting the ball very well, especially early in the at-bat, first pitch, usually off of Jamo."
Pines threatened again in the fourth was an error and a walk gave the Eagles runners at first and second with one out, but Ridderbusch tracked down a fly ball to deep left center by Matthew Szafranski and Jamison struck out Vedder to get out of the jam.
"If that ball drops in, that's two more runs right there and the hill's even bigger to climb," Waksmonski said of Ridderbusch's ranging grab.
Jamison eventually settled in and retired the last nine batters he faced. He went 6 1/3 innings in the win, allowing three earned runs on four hits with nine strikeouts. Max Ratty retired the final two batters after Jamison reached the daily pitch limit.
Jamison went 2-for-3 at the plate as well, including an RBI single in the first that gave Rhinelander and early 1-0 lead.
The loudest cheer - both from the fans and in the Hodag dugout -came in the sixth when Waksmonski put in Joe Schneider for a pinch-hit appearance. Schneider hit a sharp ground ball to short and grounded into a double play, still unable to run at full speed as his rehabilitation continues.
"He hit the ball hard but, unfortunately, it was right at the shortstop. About six feet to the left or right and you've got yourself a single and a great comeback story going," Waksmonski said. "He's been sitting, watching a lot of baseball and kind of taking in the game from a different perspective. I think he sees a lot of things now that we see as coaches. When you really study the game from the dugout - and he's very intent on studying the game - I'll be curious to see the little things that he picked up watching all this baseball and see if he can apply that to his game."
Rhinelander closes out conference play this week with two games against GNC-leading Mosinee. The first game took place yesterday afternoon at Stafford Field. Rhinelander makes the trip down to Mosinee on Thursday.
"They have a lot of talent in the lineup, a lot of talent on the mound and it's going to be a tough couple of ball games," Waksmonski said. "It's one of those teams that you have to play your A-game, and even your A-game might not be enough. You've got to have a couple of plays go your way too. I think we'll be up to the challenge and see what we've got going into the postseason, a good little measuring stick test here."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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