River Monsters earn key weekend split

WHITTLESEY — At 1-2 in the Dairyland Large, and facing back-to-back games on the road against two tough opponents, the last thing the Rhinelander River Monsters needed was a depleted pitching staff. 

That was the problem the Monsters faced after arm troubles kept two of the team’s top pitchers, Joe Schneider and Easton Senroaske, from the mound. Luckily, Rhinelander knew where to find a reliable arm in a pinch. 

2021 RHS graduate Isaac Bixby made his return over the weekend and scattered six hits in a complete-game 4-3 victory Sunday at Whittlesey. It felt like a must-win game for the Monsters after falling at league-leading Everest 10-3 a day earlier. It moved Rhinelander to 2-3 and still very much in the hunt for a WBA postseason berth near the halfway point of the regular season.

“I really felt like this was pivotal,” Monsters assistant coach Ken Zuiker said. “If we didn’t win this game, I don’t think we make postseason. That’s just my gut feeling. On top of a loss instead of a win, you start to see the attitude, the atmosphere and we’re done, that defeatist (mentality). This was a huge one for these guys. You see it. They’re standing taller, and they’re confident now. They know what we’re capable of.”

Without a number of their usual arms available, the Monsters made it through the weekend using only three pitchers. Kent Mathews went five innings on Saturday at Everest before Sam Schneider logged three innings of relief. 

The Monsters had Quinn Lamers ready for a save opportunity in the ninth on Sunday, if needed, but Bixby — who pitched two years at UW-Platteville — worked around a tough-hop two-out single and finished off a 118-pitch effort with seven strikeouts and only one walk. 

“He said early on he really paced himself, and he said he didn’t really starting throwing until the seventh inning,” coach Zuiker said. “You’ve got to trust him. He’s got good work habits. Some guys are gritty, but maybe at the expense of their arm. I never felt that way with him.”

Sunday’s win was especially vital for the River Monsters because, for a while, the game felt like it was following an all-to-familiar script for the club this season. Rhinelander jumped ahead 3-0 in the third but the bats fell quiet after a pitching change and Whittlesey eventually tied the game with a three-run seventh. 

This time, however, Rhinelander wrestled the lead back as Bixby reached on an leadoff error in the eighth and came around on Tyler Blomdahl’s two-out base hit to left.  

“It was good for the heart. I know what that team’s capable of,” coach Zuiker said of the Reds, who rallied and walked off the Monsters in 10 innings last year when the team’s played at Rogier Stadium in Whittlesey, a small township just north of Medford. 

The Monsters chased Reds’ starter Nick Retterath off the mound in with a hot start to the third inning. Kurt Zuiker doubled followed by a single from Quinn Lamers. A wild pitch allowed Zuiker to score before Easton Senoraske was hit by a pitch. Joe Schneider dumped an RBI single in to right before the Reds went to the bullpen. A passed ball allowed Rhinelander to score one more, but the Monsters ran themselves out of the inning getting overzealous on the base paths. 

After Bixby reached on an error, he tried to get himself in a rundown between first and second in an effort to let Joe Schneider steal home, but the Reds fired to the plate and instead put Schneider in a pickle that he could not escape. Bixby ended up taking third on the play, but then made a break for home prior to an 0-2 pitch to Sam Schneider and was thrown out.

“Sometimes you try to force things and, in this case, it didn’t work,” coach Zuiker said afterward.

Rhinelander couldn’t cash in on a bases loaded, one-out opportunity in the fifth, but things seemed OK as Bixby had allowed just two hits on 78 pitches through six innings. 

Things turned in the seventh, however, as the Reds strung together three straight hits to lead off the inning — capped by a two-run single by Ben Meyer that made it 3-2. After back-to-back strikeouts, it looked as though Bixby had worked out of the inning with no further damage when Zac Haynes grounded to short, but the throw popped out of the glove of first baseman Casey Gerber in his Monsters debut, allowing Meyer to score and tie the game. 

Bixby allowed only one more hit after that, and made plays on two hard-hit balls back to the mound in the ninth that helped preserve the win. 

“He adds so much to the pitching circle because he’s a pitcher, not a thrower. Then, defensively, some of those plays he made are base hits up the middle more than likely,” coach Zuiker said.

Kurt Zuiker, Senoraske and Joe Schneider had two hits each as the Monsters outhit the Reds 10-6 in the contest. Spike Alexander took the loss for Medford. Bixby’s unearned run in the eighth was the only run he allowed over 6 1/3 innings of relief. He scattered five hits with a walk and three strikeouts. 

Everest 10, Rhinelander 3

The Merchants quickly pumped the breaks after Rhinelander’s hot start Saturday, roaring back for a 10-3 win in Weston. 

Rhinelander scored three runs in the top of the first, but Everest answered back with three in the bottom of the inning, and then took the lead of good with a run in the second and three in the third while Rhinelander’s bases went quiet. 

The Monsters strung together four hits in the first to pull ahead. Sam Schneider had an RBI double followed by a Joe Schneider sacrifice fly and a RBI single by Robinson. 

Everest tied the game before recording an out in the bottom half of the inning. Ryan Hubacek drove in two with a double to deep left and then scored on a base hit by Brock Warren.

Cuyler Soppe walked and scored on a RBI groundout by Nic Barnes in the second before the Merchants hung up three in the third on a two-run double by Connor Langbehn and an RBI grounder by Soppe. 

Mathews allowed only one run the rest of his outing, on a two-out single by Graham in the fifth. 

“We jump out to a 3-0 lead and they came back and tied it right away. I thought Kent, in his second appearance for us, threw fantastic,” River Monsters manager Todd Johnson said. “He was at 108 and he wanted to go back out. I think that bodes well for the future and it seemed like, once he settled in, he just kept getting stronger and stronger. That was a big positive coming out of today’s game is Kent and what I think he’ll be able to do for us the rest of the summer.”

Everest tacked on two off Sam Schneider in the seventh as Logan Langbehn singled home Preston Miller and Connor Langbehn scored on the same play as Graham got caught in a rundown between second and third. 

Following the first inning, the Monsters’ only real threat came in the fourth after singles by Robinson and Adam Radtke, but Marc Seils flew out to center, ending the threat. 

Noah Chmielewski worked six innings for Everest, allowing three runs on six hits with three strikeouts. Jordan Hoekstra struck out two over two innings of relief and Andrew Baranowski worked the ninth for the Merchants. 

“We jumped on that first guy right away and we were hitting the ball hard,” Johnson noted. “The second guy they brought in was mainly just a curve ball thrower and I think we had a hard time staying back on that. There were a lot of at-bats where they guys were out on their front foot.”

Up next

Rhinelander will host the Minocqua Wood Ducks Sunday afternoon at Stafford Field. Minocqua dropped to 0-2 on the summer with a 7-2 loss to Everest this past Sunday. The teams split their home-and-home series last year with Minocqua upsetting Rhinelander at home, 2-1.

“I don’t know what Minocqua has for pitching, but last year they cobbled it together and did a really good job against us,” coach Zuiker said.

First pitch is slated for approximately 5 p.m. on Sunday, following the conclusion of the Rebel Invite American Legion baseball tournament.

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].