Vanderbunt named Hodag baseball MVP

One of the bright spots in an otherwise long season for the Rhinelander High School baseball team, junior Dylan Vanderbunt was named the Hodags’ most valuable player this spring by his peers. He received the award Tuesday during the team’s season-ending banquet at Nick’s Hodag Lanes.

Vanderbunt led the Hodags with a .362 batting average with a double and four RBIs over the course of the spring. On the mound, he was Rhinelander’s No. 3 pitching option, going 0-4 with a 7.00 ERA with 22 strikeouts over 27 innings. 

Vanderbunt was also one of three Hodags to receive All-Great Northern Conference honors this spring, named to the second team as an outfielder. 

“Dylan was a dual-threat guy for us, being in centerfield. As a pitcher he had a couple of different roles for us, starting pitcher and relief pitcher,” Hodag coach Joe Waksmonski told the River News following the banquet. “In the outfield, he was our leader in center. He kind of grew into his role and started making more of the elaborate plays, the harder plays, as the season went on. In the order, he started off as our No. 9 hitter and then he just kept hitting the ball and eventually worked his way up to the top.”

Vanderbunt was one of three award winners for the Hodags. Freshman Rowan Wiczek was voted the team’s most improved player while senior James Heck won the Hodag award. 

Wiczek started as a freshman and appeared to grow into his varsity role as the season went along. He finished the year with a .170 batting average with a pair of doubles and two RBIs.

“Rowan, when you look back on the very first weekend in Wisconsin Rapids, he had a couple of dropped fly balls. Really, after that, he just kind of settled in, in the outfield,” Waksmonski said. “You could see him grow in his confidence throughout the year — in the field and at the plate. The thing about Rowan is when negative stuff happens, he still has the confidence and belief in himself that he’s still going to get the job done. In many instances he was able to hit the ball hard.”

Heck was honored for his leadership on and off the field. On the mound, he recorded Rhinelander’s lone win, going 1-5 with a 6.16 ERA and 30 strikeouts over 30 2/3 innings.

“He’s the person that was your team leader, inspirational, was your positive guy. He received a lot of your votes,” Waksmonski noted.

Rhinelander finished 2024 with its worst record in Waksmonski’s 18 seasons as head coach, going 1-19 and last in the GNC with a 1-11 mark. Despite the lack of success on the field, Waksmonski thanked the seniors of their leadership as said the group, collectively, has the conviction to achieve great things off the diamond later in life.

“All of you have plans are sets and I, without a doubt, know you are going to achieve your goals,” He said. “You all have big plans … Going forward, believe in yourself, believe in your hard work and everything you’ve dreamed about, as an adult, you’re going to do it.”

Meanwhile, Waksmonski challenged the underclassmen to put in the work in the offseason it can be ready to start turning things around in 2025.

“Obviously, the year didn’t go the way we wanted it to so, moving forward, just two words I wanted to talk to you guys about are confidence and preparation,” he said. “Confidence is the believe in yourself and that comes from preparation. I think confidence next year will come from believing that you’ve gotten yourself prepared. It starts with open gym, doing stuff on your own, doing all the little things so that you feel you are prepared to win some games next year.”

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].