RHS Sports recap: Saturday, April 13

Boys’ tennis: Rhinelander 3-1, Wausau Invite

The Rhinelander High School boys’ tennis team won three of its four matches against Wisconsin Valley Conference schools in the Wausau Invite held Friday and Saturday.

The Hodags opened with a 4-3 loss to D.C. Everest before beating Wausau East 5-2 on Friday. Rhinelander started with a 6-1 win over Wausau West on Saturday before avenging Friday’s loss with a 4-3 victory over the Evergreens. 

Five players went 4-0 for the Hodags over the weekend. Joey Belanger and Dalton Fritz were 3-0 together at No. 1 doubles and then won singles matches Saturday afternoon against Everest. Gavin Denis and Dawson Pontell were 4-0 together at Nos. 1 and 2 doubles, and Payton McCue won three matches in singles before partnering with Zacha King for a win at No. 3 doubles Saturday against Everest. 

Rhinelander (4-1, 1-0, Great Northern) is scheduled to travel to Lakeland on Tuesday.

Baseball: Wisconsin Rapids 13-9, Rhinelander 0-0

Wisconsin Rapids pitching held Rhinelander to three combined hits in two games Saturday as the Raiders swept a doubleheader from the Hodags 13-0 and 9-0 in Wisconsin Rapids. 

Rapids scored 11 times in the third inning of Game 1, doing most of the damage off of starter Dylan Vanderbunt, who was tagged for 11 runs on 10 hits over 2 2/3 innings. Single runs in the first and fourth innings aided the Raider offense and the Hodags’ lone hit was a two-out single by Rowan Wiczek in the second inning. 

Rapids lefty Gage Honeyager carried a perfect game through six innings in the night cap, which was broken up by a Seth Nofftz lead off single on the first pitch of the seventh. Max Ratty added a hit later in the inning. Honeyager settled for a complete game, two-hit shutout with 17 strikeouts.

The Raiders, meanwhile, scored twice in the first, once in the third, four times in the fifth and added single runs in the sixth and seventh. James Heck took the loss, allowing seven runs on seven hits over five innings with four walks and three strikeouts. 

Rhinelander (0-5, 0-1 Great Northern) hosts Northland Pines on Monday.

Full reports will be published in Tuesday’s River News.