May 23, 2022 at 8:56 a.m.
Hodags split games at home invite
Playoffs begin Thursday for RHS at Merrill
Hodags split games at home invite
Rhinelander (8-6, 6-5 Great Northern) split a pair of playoff tune-ups on Saturday, beating Green Bay Notre Dame 5-4 before falling to Rice Lake 4-2 in a triangular at Hodag Park.
The team was set to face second-ranked Mosinee again on Monday to makeup a Great Northern Conference game that was postponed this past Thursday due to thunderstorms. That could be a potential playoff preview after the Indians received the No. 1 seed in a seven-team regional and a first-round bye. The Hodags were saddled with the No. 5 seed and will open the tournament at Merrill on Thursday.
"We talked a little bit about our team identity going into the postseason and, right now, it's kind of shaping up to be the same thing as it was last year - it's pitching and defense," Hodag coach Joe Waksmonski said.
That proved to be the case on Saturday as runs were at a premium against two quality outfits. Ryan Jamison went 6 1/3 strong innings on the hill against the Tritons and the Hodags turned a game-ending double play after Notre Dame threatened in the seventh and got the tying run to second.
While Jacksen Smith allowed only one earned run over 6 2/3 innings against Rice Lake, two key errors in the sixth and seventh innings loomed large as the Warriors scored twice in each frame to rally back and earn the win.
"Both teams were brought in here today are both really good programs, really good teams," Waksmonski said. "They play in tough conferences. They both have excellent players on their teams. We played two tough games, two close games. I thought it was a good day for high school baseball."
Rhinelander 5, Notre Dame 4
Sophomore Max Ratty went 3-for-3, drove in three runs and finished a home run short of the cycle against Notre Dame. His bat and two bases-loaded walks proved to be just enough insurance to hold off a desperate rally by the Tritons in the seventh inning.
Ratty got things going with a two-run double in the first inning and added an RBI triple in the sixth that gave Rhinelander a 5-1 lead.
"You can tell lately he's starting to come back around again, seeing the ball well," Waksmonski said. "He's starting drive it to the opposite field gap and we're excited. We need a lot more of that going into the postseason."
Rhinelander also plated a pair of runs in the fifth without the aid of a hit as two Triton relievers - Alex Rottier and Drew Siudzinski - combined to walk five batters in the frame. Logan Schmoeger and James Heck drew bases-loaded free passes to force in a pair of runs.
"When we scored late, it was more or less due to their pitchers' ineffectiveness throwing strikes than anything that we did offensively," Waksmonski said.
The Tritons made it a 2-1 game in the top of the fifth as Brady LaViolette reached on a fielders' choice and scored on a two-out single by Donatello Badalamenti. Landon Lozier, Caden Capomaccio and LaViolette all singled off Jamison to start the seventh, plating two runs and cutting the lead to 5-3. Jamison struck out Micah Marzec in his last batter before reaching the daily 100-pitch limit.
Ratty came on in relief and gave up a double to Badalamenti that cut the lead to one before Deuce Musial lined out to Ratty, who threw back to second to complete a game-ending double play.
"Talking to their coach, they've been like that all year. They've had a bunch of rallies toward the end of games where they've come back and won or come back and lost. Thankfully for us, it wasn't enough to get ahead," Waksmonski said. "Hat's off to our team being able to make the plays, and then at the end of, that line drive to be able to double off the runner to win that game."
Ratty had half of Rhinelander's six hits in the contest while Jamison got the win, allowing four runs on six hits with three strikeouts over 6 1/3 innings.
Rice Lake 4, Rhinelander 2
Ultimately, a pair of defensive miscues led to Rhinelander's downfall in Saturday's nightcap against the Warriors.
Trailing 2-0 in the top of the sixth, Rice Lake got its first two runners aboard on an single to short by Matt Farm and a bloop base hit by Cole Fenske. Matt Juza then laid down a sacrifice bunt up the first base line and Tyler Morrison's throw back to the bag sailed wide, allowing Farm to score from second. Alex Belongia then singled past second to score Fenske and tie the game. Belongia later stole second base, giving the Warriors runners on second and third with nobody out before Smith got a strikeout, a pop out and a flyout to get out of the inning with no further damage.
Smith hit Tyson LaPoint with a pitch to begin the seventh inning. LaPoint moved to second on a Kole Klemme sacrifice and to third on a fly to deep center by Farm before Fenske hit a two-out fly to left that popped in and out of Owen Kurtz's glove, allowing LaPoint to score and give the Warriors a 3-2 lead. Juza doubled home Fenske on the next pitch to double the lead.
"We had a couple of routine plays, obviously the fly ball, but we also missed the bunt coverage," Waksmonski said. "Those things loom large, especially when you're offense is not get the production that you're looking for. Those defensive miscues definitely hurt us. Right now, we're a pitching and defense team and we've got to make the routine plays."
Rhinelander took the lead in the fifth as AJ Turek doubled, moved to third on a Smith sacrifice and scored on a single by Jamison, who later came around on a two-out single to right by Kurtz.
After going down in order in the sixth, the Hodags got the tying run aboard in the seventh as Jamison and Sam Schneider drew back-to-back walks, but Ratty grounded into a fielder's choice and Kurtz struck out on three pitches to end the game.
Jamison had two hits in Game 2 as Rhinelander outhit Rice Lake 7-6. Smith took a tough-luck loss, allowing only one earned run on six hits over 6 2/3 innings with no walks and two strikeouts.
"Jacksen threw the ball really well and he had some moments where he had to battle. He couldn't quite find his curveball for a couple of innings there, but he just battled, hung in there and kept throwing strikes," Waksmonski said.
Playoffs ahead
Second-ranked Mosinee and fourth-ranked Medford were the clear-cut Nos. 1 and 2 seeds last Wednesday during the regional seeding meeting. Things got murky from third on back. Abbotsford/Colby (13-8), winners of the Marawood North Conference, got the No. 3 seed despite playing only one game against the regional field prior to the seeding meeting - a win over Merrill (11-12), which got the four seed. Rhinelander, Antigo (8-12) and Lakeland (7-15) rounded out the order.
"When they totaled up all the (votes), they were really close," Waksmonski said. "Between us and Merrill, I guess we could have had a issue, but they had a couple of wins and Merrill played the supposed tougher conference. For whatever reason, we got the five seed. I think, there, our undoing was just have those two one-run losses to Antigo."
Given that Jamison and Smith both threw more than 60 pitches on Saturday, they were unavailable to throw in the regular season finale Monday at Mosinee, due to pitch count regulations. Waksmonski said he planned to treat that as a bullpen game to ensure all arms were available for Thursday's playoff opener at Merrill.
Rhinelander and Merrill were originally scheduled to play in early April, but a late thaw prevented that game from taking place. They were to have played on Monday, but needed to cancel as both teams instead had to make up conference games following last Thursday's rainouts.
"It's kind of more or less like us. Depending on the day, they've hit the ball really good. They can pitch really good," Waksmonski said. "Then there are days where they haven't played very well. We beat Wausau East 13-0 early on in the year and Merrill went 1-2 against them this year. It's just depends on the day and who shows up on May 26 with their A-game."
The winner of Thursday's game will face Mosinee, which had a first-round bye, Tuesday, May 31 in the regional semifinals. Should the Hodags win Thursday, they would have Jamison available to throw again on Tuesday with the benefit that Mosinee will not have faced Rhinelander's ace in either of the two previous meetings.
"Without a doubt that could be a benefit in our favor, not that we were thinking about that, but we've definitely got to have Ryan Jamison ready for that Thursday playoff game," Waksmonski said. "If we are fortunate enough to get the win there, we'll be ready to go with Ryan again against Mosinee on Tuesday."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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