March 30, 2023 at 8:40 a.m.
Team preview: RHS baseball
Hodags rebuilding with young roster
Team preview: RHS baseball
For the Hodags to make similar memories this spring, the team will have to come a long way over the next two months.
While the Hodags welcome back eight players with varsity playing experience, pretty much all of their pitchers from last year graduated, along with a number of their top bats.
Joe Waksmonski enters his 17th season as the Hodags' skipper and, as always, said the goal is for the team to be playing its best baseball toward the end of May when the postseason commences.
"I would say more so this year than ever that particular comment is true," he said after the Hodags hosted D.C. Everest in a simulated game Sunday in the Hodag Dome. "Where we're at right now on March 26, we have to grow leaps and bounds by the end of May, especially if we want to move on into the postseason. Our regional is probably one of the toughest regionals in our state in Division 2. We have to grow and learn."
The Hodags have a number of big shoes to fill after graduating number of key players from last year's squad - including Ryan Jamison, Joe Schneider, Jacksen Smith and Kolby Ridderbusch. Jamison and Smith logged the bulk of the Hodags' innings last spring and combined to no-hit the Bluejays in the playoffs.
Pitching appears to be Rhinelander's biggest question mark entering the season, with only one of the six pitchers who toed the rubber for the Hodags last spring returning. That's junior Max Ratty, who was 2-0 with a 2.53 ERA and a save over 19 2/3 innings. Ratty then went 1-1 with a save and a 5.73 ERA last summer for the state-qualifying Rhinelander Post 7 American Legion baseball team, but his summer was slowed due to a knee injury that lingered into the winter, forcing him to shut down his basketball season after only six games.
Ratty pitched one inning on Sunday, giving up three runs on a hit with three walks and two strikeouts, according to unofficial statistics kept by the River News. Ratty also hit a pair of batters with the bases loaded.
"He's going to try his hardest to get his junior season of baseball in," Waksmonski said. "I know he was chomping at the bit today to kind of see how he felt out there, not only on the mound, but at the plate and defensively. I couldn't really tell too much as far as him holding anything back. Obviously, he would have liked to have thrown more strikes, but again, it seems like every year your first outing - whether it's a plastic mound or a clay mound - it's going to be tough to throw strikes that first time."
The Hodags trotted out seven different pitchers on Sunday, many of whom exhibited growing pains. The team combined to walk 19 batters over six innings. In sum, nine of Everest's 15 runs came either via a walk or hit batsman with the bases loaded.
"Pitching-wise it was too many walks," Waksmonski said. "It's very telling to see kind of who had that confident look on the mound. We had a couple of times where we didn't look so confident. I think that's just part of the maturation process where our guys just need to get some experience. They need to get out and play and the confidence part will come along."
Others who saw action on the mound Sunday were juniors Oscar Hanson, Kaden Vanney, James Heck and Alex Rappley, senior Cody Everest and sophomore Dylan Vanderbunt. Heck was the only one to manage a scoreless inning, working around a pair of walks thanks to a couple of strikeouts. Vanderbunt only walked on in his inning, but allowed three runs on three hits. Rappley came on in relief of Everson in the sixth and struck out the only batter he faced to get out of a bases-loaded jam.
By the numbers, Vanney (26 1/3 IP, 2.13 ERA), Rappley (16 1/3 IP, 3.86 ERA) and Vanderbunt (15 IP, 5.13 ERA) saw the most time pitching on junior varsity last year.
"It's got to come along, that's for sure," Waksmonski said of his pitching staff. "It's kind of about body language and confidence. We have to be out there and be poised because this is not like some of the baseball that some of these younger pitchers have experienced in the past. There's a little more pressure, you're going against much better competition. It's all about fine-tuning those finer points of not only mechanics but mentally going through the process and just having a plan."
Ratty and senior catcher Sam Schneider are the lone two players back for the Hodags who earned all-conference recognition in the GNC last year.
Schneider hit .302 with a team-high 13 RBIs last spring. He was also the Rebels' top run producer last summer hitting .359 with a home run and 26 RBIs. Ratty hit .311 with 10 RBIs last spring but dipped to .214 with a home run and 12 RBIs in the summer.
The Hodags have four seniors returning from last year's varsity squad - Schneider, outfielder AJ Turek (.361, 1 RBI), infielder Cody Everson (.063, 1 RBI) and first baseman Tyler Morrison (.200, 2 RBIs).
Ratty, Heck (.250, 5 RBIs), junior outfielder Owen Kurtz (.209, HR, 5 RBIs) and sophomore shortstop Seth Nofftz (.167) round out those returning from last year's varsity squad. Seven of those eight played with the Rebels last summer, with Heck being the lone exception. Junior utility player Adrian Patrone joined the seven on the Legion squad that made it to the Wisconsin AA state tournament in Fort Atkinson.
"They got to experience what playing winning baseball is all about," Waksmonski said. "More or less just being in that atmosphere of learning from those leaders that we had, picking up those pieces from some of our previous leaders like Joe Schneider and Isaac Bixby and Quinn Lamers. You got to take what they taught you and teach it to some of those younger kids."
Offensively, Rhinelander struggled at the plate in Sunday's scrimmage, striking out 12 times - including five times in a row looking at one point. In all, Rhinelander managed only three hits in six innings. Nofftz doubled down the left field line in the third, which was Rhinelander's only offense until the sixth.
The Hodags scored five runs in that frame with the help of some Everest miscues. Everson had a single off the netting of a short porch in right field inside the dome. Heck, Vanderbunt and Nofftz all reached on errors. Morrison had an infield hit that drove in a run before Alex Rappley and Vanney drew back-to-back bases loaded walks.
"Offensively there at the end it was nice to kind of put a little rally together and put some good at-bats together," Waksmonski said. "As hitters, we saw good pitching. D.C. Everest ran out three or four really exceptional pitchers out of their seven or eight guys.
"If you want to play playoff baseball and extend your season, you not only have to see those types of pitchers, but you have to figure out how to beat those types of pitchers."
The Hodags were scheduled to open their season this afternoon with a non-conference doubleheader at Wisconsin Rapids, but those games have been postponed due to the strong early-spring storm system pushing through the state.
For now, the Hodags will be at the mercy of Mother Nature and how soon the thaw comes. Non-conference games at D.C. Everest and Wausau West are on the docket next week, and the Hodags are scheduled to host Antigo April 10 to open GNC play, but that will all depend on when the snow melts, the frost subsides and fields are ready for play.
As far as the GNC, Mosinee and Medford seem to be the class of the field entering the season. Mosinee was the top seed in the D2 state tournament last year before getting upset by Jefferson in the state semifinals. Medford split with Mosinee last year during the regular season and then lost an extra-innings heartbreaker to Mosinee in the regional finals.
The Wisconsin Baseball Yearbook picks Rhinelander to finish third in the GNC, but Waksmonski said there is plenty of parity among the teams chasing the top two squads.
"I think third on back it could go many different ways there. With Mosinee and Medford, it's going to be quite the battle to see this year," he said. "With those two being the definite leaders, you still have to find a way to compete against those teams. I think our goal is to be in competitive games, try to make them play their best and, ultimately, you never know in those types of situations. If you can keep the game close, a play or two here or there, you could get that W."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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