Youth Sports Roundup

Youth baseball tournament

Hodag Little League held the Early Spring Dome tournament in the Hodag Dome April 12-14. The Hodags were the runners-up in the 11U bracket, falling in the championship game to the Eau Claire-area based Hallie Heat. 

Photos by Bob Mainhardt for the River News

    Jeter Vander Gailen makes a throw to first during the 11U championship game against Hallie.
  

    Ben Gehrmann attempts to make a catch in centerfield during the 12U third-place game against Shawano.
  

Middle school softball

The James Williams Middle School softball team hosted its inaugural game Thursday, April 11 as it faced Horace Mann Middle School in the Hodag Dome. The Hodag seventh-and-eighth grade team won, 18-1.

Photos by Bob Mainhardt for the River News

    Aleece Johnson pitches for the Hodags.
  

    Aliyah Jordan hits an inside-the-park home run for the Hodags.
  

Middle school bowlers drop finale 

    Rhinelander’s Natalie Dellenbach warms up prior to a WiMSBC District 9 meet against Antigo at Nick’s Hodag Lanes Sunday, April 14. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

A late comeback wasn’t enough on Sunday as the Rhinelander middle school club bowling team forced a decisive seventh game but fell short 4-3 to Antigo No. 3 in the Wisconsin High School Bowling Club District 9 regular season finale Sunday at Nick’s Hodag Lanes. 

Trailing 3-1 after Game 4, the Hodags responded with the best game of the afternoon — a 169-143 win in Game 5 — and then took Game 6 121-113 to square the match. Antigo won the final game 163-127.

Close losses cost the Hodags early in the match. Eli Miller struck out in the 10th frame of Game 1 but it wasn’t enough as the Hodags fell 139-137. Miller missed a two-pin sport attempt in the 10th in Game 4 as the Hodags fell 118-114. 

“(Assistant coach) Johanna (Dellenbach) made a lineup change and the kids bounced back 3-3 heading into the last game,” coach Cory Dellenbach, who was out of town on a business trip, told the River News. “From what I saw on the livestream at the airport, most of the kids struggled off and on today.”

    Rhinelander’s Eli Miller warms up prior to a WiMSBC District 9 meet against Antigo at Nick’s Hodag Lanes Sunday, April 14. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

Natalie Dellenbach led the way for the Hodags, filling 10 of her 14 frames with five strikes. Eli Miller was 8 of 14 with 4 strikes and Charlotte Pruess was 7 of 14 with four strikes. 

“Natalie showed up big for us having 5 strikes and 5 spares and 4 opens. She has improved a lot since last year and she’s becoming a leader on this team,” Cory Dellenbach said. “Charlotte is another one that has put in the time and it’s showing. She finished with 4 strikes, 3 spares and 7 opens.”

The loss dropped the Hodags to 4-4 overall on the season and on the bubble — both as a team and individually — to qualify for the WiMSBC state meet. The top four team out of District 9 qualify and the Hodags dropped to fourth with the loss. Individually, Natalie Dellenbach was seventh in the girls’ standings and Eli Miller was 15th in the boys’ standings as of Tuesday morning. The top four teams, top six girls and top 15 boys will advance to next month’s state meet in Weston. 

Final results were still pending as of press time. Teams had until Wednesday to enter all of their stats into the league database for the end of the season. 

Middle school track opens season

The James Williams Middle School track team opened its 2024 season with an indoor meet at Northland Pines High School in Eagle River on Monday. The Hodag boys finished third in the eight-team field while the Hodag girls placed seventh.

Dean Gillingham scored the team’s lone win of the night, taking the boys’ 1,600-meter run. He added a third-place run in the 800. Matthew Haselton was second in both the 200 hurdles and the long jump, Chris Kanitz was third in the 200 hurdles and Wyatt Crowell took third in the 400. The Hodags were also runners-up in the 4x200 relay and third in the 4x400.

Tatiana Vadis scored the best finish for the Hodag girls, taking runner-up in the shot put. Addison Fish scored the team’s only other top five finish, placing fourth in the long jump.