Team Preview: RHS baseball

NOTE: In the original version of this story, we misidentified junior Johnny Turek as his younger brother Jackson. The story has been corrected below. We regret the error.

As the Rhinelander High School baseball team tries to bounce back from an eight-win season in 2023, having plenty of experience back on the pitching mound will help.

The Hodags will definitely have that, as all five of their top pitchers from last spring return. Rhinelander figures to be solid defensively with 10 players back in total form last year’s squad. The big question — and the one that will likely decide where Rhinelander finishes the Great Northern Conference standings — will be to what extent the Hodag bats come around. 

Rhinelander, as a team, hit only .222 last spring and graduated two of they top five hitters from that squad in all-conference catcher Sam Schneider and Cody Everson.

“With this particular group, we’ve run hot and cold offensively,” Hodag coach Joe Waksmonski said. “When we run hot, we run hot and when we run cold, we run cold. It’s kind of finding that even-keel, middle ground where we can get production in certain part of our lineup. It doesn’t have to be every part of our lineup, but it needs to be in some parts.”

The Hodags have a solid group of seniors to lead the way. That list includes Max Ratty, who is the lone returning all-conference player on the squad. He was a second-team utility man and received honorable mention as both a pitcher and an infielder last spring as he hit a team-best .290 with 14 RBIs and was 4-5 on the mound with a 5.11 ERA and 48 strikeouts over 49 1/3 innings of work. 

Despite battling through a knee injury in the summer, Ratty’s numbers picked up during American Legion play with the Rhinelander Post 7 Rebels. He hit .441 with 11 RBIs and was 4-2 with a save on the mound, sporting a 1.36 ERA over 36 innings. 

The pitching staff appears deep for Rhinelander. Senior James Heck was the Hodags’ No. 2 man last year going 2-5 with a save and a staff-best 3.69 ERA. Junior Dylan Vanderbunt (1-2, 2 saves, 4.97 ERA), senior Kaden Vanney (0-1, 6.68 ERA) and senior Oscar Hanson (1-1, 10.50 ERA) round out the group of returning pitchers. 

“Max, he’s probably our No. 1 right now with a bunch of guys behind him that are very even themselves,” Waksmonski said. “The name of the game is going to be throwing strikes and being consistent within the strike zone and then making those defensive plays.”

Most of the defense from last year returns intact as well. Heck and Ratty switched off at third when not pitching last year, junior Seth Nofftz is back at shortstop and junior Barak Rappley returns at first base. 

Senior Owen Kurtz returns in left field and Vanderbunt moves over from right field to center this year when he’s not pitching. 

The biggest defensive hole is behind the plate, where Schneider threw out 17 would-be base stealers last year. Senior Adrian Patrone, who saw some innings behind the plate for the Rebels last summer, is tabbed to take over that spot on a more permanent basis this spring. 

“Adrian’s probably going to be the guy,” Waksmonski said. “He’s the senior leader. He knows the ins and outs of the defensive calls and he does a pretty nice job with our pitchers as well, trying to coax strikes every now and then. He does a nice job framing and receiving back there as well.”

Offensively, behind Ratty, Kurtz was third-best on the team last spring hitting .286. He also had the only two home runs of the season and a team-high 17 RBIs. Nofftz hit .274 with nine RBIs and Heck was .212 with 13 driven in. 

Overall, the team will hope some of the offensive production from the summer carries over. Vanderbunt hit .275 with the Rebels and Rappley hit .324.

In addition to being part of the pitching rotation, Vanney started at second during Thursday’s scrimmage and Hanson saw time at third. Junior Tyler Chariton saw time at both first and second sophomore Chandler Servent spent some time behind the plate. 

While there are a number of incumbents, Waksmonski said several spots on the lineup card are written in pencil, not ink, at the moment. 

“We’ll be seeing some different faces in the lineup,” he said. “There is going to be a lot of internal competition going. We’ll see some positions where we have some platoons with two guys going and you’d like to eventually find the one guy that you’d like to hang your hat on at each spot but, for now, we’ll have some spots with some competition going on.” 

The Hodags also had a pair of freshmen who turned some heads in the scrimmage —Rowan Wiczek, Jackson Waydickk. Wiczek batted second in the order, going 0-for-1 with a pair or walks, a strikeout and a run scored. He had the defensive highlight of the day, making a diving catch in right field during the second inning that led to a double play. Waydick delivered an RBI single in the third inning and also caught a couple of innings behind the plate. 

“They’re heady ball players and love the game of baseball, a couple of the hardest workers we had in the offseason,” Waksmonski said. “They’re always looking to get into the dome and get some swings in on their own. They always seem to be together, playing catch, hitting and whatnot.” 

Rhinelander was a combined 6-for-27 at the dish as it ran through all 15 batters in its varsity lineup during the seven-inning scrimmage. The Hodags led 4-1 after four innings, but Crandon was able to get to end of Rhinelander’s bullpen in the sixth and seventh inning to unofficially take the scrimmage, 5-4.

    Rhinelander’s Dylan Vanderbunt hits a two-run single during a baseball scrimmage against Crandon in the Hodag Dome Thursday, March 28. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

Ratty, Heck and Vanderbunt all pitched scoreless innings for the Hodags. Ratty walked two batters but wiggled out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the first. Nofftz had the only extra-base hit, a lead-off double in the first. Junior Johnny Turek collected hits in both of his at-bats. Vanderbunt hit a two-run single as part of a three-run fourth inning. The Hodags were not charged with an error in the scrimmage. 

“I knew this group would be strong pitching and defensive-wise. They’re also a step ahead of (Crandon’s) hitter. Their hitters put together some great at-bats, but our pitchers were able to battle. There were a couple of really good battles between our pitchers and their hitters and, for the most part, we ended up with the upper hand on that it seemed like,” Waksmonski said. “Hitters were just kind of behind the fastball today. We were kind of feeling things out, which is kind of to be expected early in the season — feeling out pitchers, seeing pitches. You wish they were a little more aggressive at the plate, especially early in the counts. There were times where it just seemed like we were late on very hittable fastballs early in the count.”  

The Hodags hope to get their season opener in on schedule this afternoon at Wittenberg-Birnamwood. If it happens, it will be the team’s earliest season-opener since 2010 when the team started the season March 30 with a three-game road trip through the La Crosse area. That will be followed by a non-conference doubleheader with Stratford on the turf in Wisconsin Rapids this Saturday. The Hodags are slated to open the conference schedule at Antigo April 8 and host the Robins in the home opener at Stafford Field April 11.

“We just want to get outside and play baseball. I think that’s where you’re really going to see where we’re at as a team,” Waksmonski said.

As for the conference, Mosinee figures to be the odds-on favorites again, led by returning all-conference first teamers Keagen Jirschele, Gavin Obremski and Taylor Lemanski.

“You’re talking about a team with two or three guys that are Division I caliber ball players with another two or three guys behind that that will be playing college baseball at the D-III level. Without a doubt, on paper, they are the team to beat, but you can always catch them on a bad day,” Waksmonski said. “On any given day anyone can beat anyone in our conference it seems like. It’s all about who hot on that particular day. Outside of Mosinee, anyone can be anyone.”

The good news for the Hodags, and the rest of the GNC, is that a shuffling of the WIAA sectional groupings sends Mosinee east to the Green Bay/Fox Valley area this year while much of the conference goes west. 

To that end, Waksmonski said the goal is to earn a top-eight seed in the 13-team half sectional grouping, which would give the Hodags a home playoff game at Stafford Field.

“I think we could be right at the top of the conference going into the postseason,” he said. “With the sectional, the way things are going, you’d like to be able to host a game at the end of the season. I think the name of our game is try to be able to host that first playoff game.”

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].

TEAM SCHEDULE

Date    Opponent    Time

4/2    at Wittenberg-Birnamwood    4:30 p.m.

4/6    Stratford (at Wis. Rapids) (DH)    Noon/2:30 p.m.

4/8    at Antigo*    5 p.m.

4/11    ANTIGO*    5 p.m.

4/13    at Wis. Rapids (DH)    11 a.m./1:30 p.m.

4/15    NORTHLAND PINES*    5 p.m.

4/18    at Northland Pines*    5 p.m.

4/20    ABBOTSFORD/COLBY    11 a.m.

4/23    at Medford*    5 p.m.

4/26    MEDFORD*    5 p.m.

4/29    LAKELAND*    5 p.m.

4/30    D.C. EVEREST    5 p.m.

5/2    at Lakeland*    5 p.m.

5/6    MERRILL    5 p.m.

5/7    at Wausau East    5 p.m.

5/11    MOSINEE* (DH)    11 a.m./1:30 p.m.

5/14    TOMAHAWK*    5 p.m.

5/17    at Tomahawk*    5 p.m.

5/20    at Ashland    5 p.m.

5/21    MARATHON    5 p.m.

5/23    WIAA Regionals    TBD

* Conference Games | HOME GAMES IN CAPS