Babe Ruth: Prep Leaguers rout Lakeland 13-3

The Rhinelander Prep League team ended its Northwoods season on a positive note Tuesday. 

Vince White struck out 12 over four innings and the Hodags routed Lakeland 13-3 in five innings at Stafford Field.

Rhinelander scored in every inning in the contest and led 9-0 after three innings before cruising to victory.

White was dominant on the mound, striking out all 10 Lakeland batters the first time through the lineup. He allowed an infield hit with one out in the fourth, which eventually scored on a two-out bases-loaded walk. Henry Schmitz worked the fifth inning for Rhinelander, giving up two runs on no hits with a pair of walks. 

Rhinelander had nine hits in the contest, including a 3-for-4 night at the plate from Jackson West. West plated the game’s first run, singling home Schmitz in the first inning. West later scored on a Tommy Eades double that gave Rhinelander a 2-0 lead after an inning. 

Trevor Denton reached on an error and scored on a wild pitch in the second before the Hodags blew the game open in the third, sending 10 batters to the plate and scoring six times. 

West singled and scored on a wild pitch while White walked and scored on a passed ball. A walk by Johnny Baker and a single by Brayden Dervetski gave Rhinelander two on with one out in the inning. They came around on an RBI groundout by Daniel Meier and a double by Denton. Denton would later score on a wild pitch while Matthew Haselton walked, took second and third on wild pitches and scored on a passed ball to make it 9-0.

The Hodags answered Lakeland’s lone run in the fourth with three in the bottom half of the inning. Schmitz, West and White led off the inning with three straight singles to make it 10-1, West came around on a passed ball and White beat a throw to the plate on a Baker grounder to make it 12-1. 

Denton singled, stole second and scored on a throwing error in the fifth to account for the final margin. 

Denton went 2-for-3 at the plate while Schmitz, White, Eades and Dervetski had one hit each in the contest. 

Rhinelander (8-3) will finish as the runner-up in the Prep League standings behind Tomahawk-2, which accounted for two of the Hodags’ three losses on the season. 

Rhinelander’s Senior League team saw it’s league finale against Eagle River-1 on Monday postponed due to thunderstorms. That game has been rescheduled for Monday, July 18. The Hodags (2-7, 2-6 NBRSL) were set to travel to Prentice for a non-league game on Thursday. 

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].