Rebels fend off Altoona in Merrill Invite

MERRILL — The Rhinelander Post 7 Rebels got off to a hot start Sunday and held on down the stretch to get back to .500 on the season.

Sam Schneider drove in three more runs, while Kaden Vanney added a pair of RBIs and struck out eight batters over 6 2/3 innings as the Rebels knocked off Altoona 7-3 in the final day of the Art Perkins Memorial Invite in Merrill.

Deep in its rotation, with ace Max Ratty unavailable for the weekend and four other pitchers ineligible to throw after tossing more than 30 pitches in two games the previous day, the Rebels needed a long outing from Vanney. He responded by allowing just three hits as he worked around three walks, a hit batter and a trio of Rhinelander errors. 

“Altoona played a very good game against us,” Huhnstock said. “Kaden pitched a whale of a ball game for us and we had enough clutch hitting and base running. It was a very good team effort today.”

Altoona — fresh off a 15-14 extra-inning win over Wittenberg-Birnamwood minutes prior to the Rhinelander game — struggled defensively in the contest, committing six errors. The Rebels took advantage of the mistakes as only one of their seven runs were earned. 

That theme started right away in the first as Seth Nofftz reached on an error to third and then came around as Schneider smacked a double to the right-center gap. Schneider took third on a errant pickoff attempt and scored on a Vanney single to right to give the Rebels an early 2-0 lead. 

Nofftz made it 3-0 in the second, driving in Adrian Patrone on a two-out single to left in an inning that was prolonged by and error. After the Reds got one back in the top of the fourth, the Rebels answered with three in the bottom half after Dylan Vanderbunt reached on a dropped infield pop-up with one out in the inning. Though he was erased on a fielder’s choice by Nofftz, it set the table for Schneider to drive in two with a two-out single up the middle. He advanced to third on the play following an error and scored on a Vanney single to left. 

“It’s important to get out in front early in a game, it just builds confidence,” Huhnstock said.

The Hodags tacked on one more run in the sixth as Nofftz took home as part of a double steal with Schneider.

    Rhinelander’s Kaden Vanney pitches during the first inning of an American Legion baseball game against Altoona in Merrill Sunday, June 30. Vanney allowed one earned run on three hits with eight strikeouts over 6 2/3 innings in Rhinelander’s 7-3 victory. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

Vanney took a no-hitter in to the fourth. That was broken up on a two-out single by Connor Scullion, which led to the first spot of trouble for the Rebel righty. Gavin Lutteice followed with another single, Luke Duquaine walked and Drew Swartos was hit by a pitch to force in Altoona’s first run. Vanney struck out Aiden Scullion to end that threat. The Reds tacked on two more runs, unearned, in the fifth, following a pair of errors by Patrone at first. 

With Vanney nearing the end of his 105-pitch limit, the Rebels readied reliever Owen Kurtz in the bullpen — the only other available pitcher the team had on staff who had thrown varsity innings over the last two seasons. 

That plan went awry in the bottom of the sixth when Kurtz tried to take first on a dropped third strike with two out in the inning. Kurtz appeared to extend his right arm and make contact with first baseman Zach Palchick, who still made the catch in time to retire Kurtz. Following a brief conference, the umpires ejected Kurtz from the game for initiating the contact. 

“I seen that he put his arm up a little bit, but I didn’t think it was anything offensive at all. It is what it is. That’s what they called, so we’ve got to live with it,” Huhnstock said.

Vanney reached the limit as he got Joey Garrison to ground out for the second out of the seventh inning and the Rebels turned to John Turek to finish things off in his first varsity-level pitching action. After allowing a single to Andy Linberg and seeing Xavier Kirchoff reach on an error, Turek got Connor Scullion to ground into a game-ending fielder’s choice to short.

“He came in and all of those bullpens he threw all spring long came in to play and he was able to get in there and throw strikes and we made a play behind him,” Huhnstock said. 

Patrone added a pair of hits as Rhinelander outhit Altoona 10-4 in the contest. Joey Garrison went 3 2/3 innings in the loss for the Reds allowing six runs, all unearned, on seven hits with five strikeouts. Linberg allowed a run on three hits with five strikeouts over 2 1/3 innings of relief. 

The Rebels are in the midst of a home-and-home series with the Minocqua 89ers. The two teams played in Minocqua Wednesday in a game that concluded after press time for today’s edition and the squads are set to meet again this evening at Stafford Field.

“We’re looking forward to it. Having a couple of games around the Fourth of July, that’s a good week,” Huhnstock said.

The Rebels will also be home this coming Monday to face Crandon. Rhinelander will be looking to avenge a 5-2 loss to Post 94 in Crandon back on June 24.

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].