Babe Ruth Roundup

Rhinelander’s 13U squad in the Northwoods Babe Ruth Prep League remained unbeaten with a pair of blowout wins at home Wednesday and Thursday, avenging the only blemish on their record in the process.

The Hodags trounced Phillips 17-8 Wednesday at Stafford Field and then used a pair of six-run innings to work past Eagle River 13-3 on Thursday. That moved Rhinelander to 3-0-1 in the Prep League, a half game behind Tomahawk. The tie for the Hodags was an 8-8 draw at Eagle River in the season opener. 

After spotting Phillips a pair of runs in the top of the first, Rhinelander wasted no time wrestling the lead back with six runs in the bottom half of the inning on Wednesday. The Loggers rallied to score two in the second and three in the third to momentarily move ahead 7-6 but Rhinelander answered with eight runs in the third to put the game out of reach. 

Rhinelander added three runs in the fourth inning and, while Phillips scored once in the fifth to avoid the run rule, the game was called at that point after reaching the Prep League’s two-hour time limit.

Brayden Dervetski and Johnny Baker each scored three times in the contest.

Baker got credit for the win for Rhinelander. He pitched the final two innings, allowing a run on a hit. Dervetski started the game and allows two runs on an hit with a strikeout over two thirds of an inning. Jaxon West struck out the only batter he faced to end the first. Brodee Dillenberg allowed five runs on three hits with four walks and four strikeouts over two innings of relief.

The Hodags took control early on Thursday thanks to a six-run first inning and scored six more times in the fourth after the Eagles rallied for three in the top half of the inning. 

Baker and Dillenberg had RBI singles in the first for Rhinelander. Carsen Zadnik, Dylan Webster and Landon Woods recorded RBIs in the fourth and Daniel Meier ended it via the run rule on a walk-off single with nobody out in the fifth inning. 

Meier collected a pair of hits and scored twice in the contest. Baker, Dillenberg, Webster and Woods also had hits in the contest while Dervetski score a pair of runs. 

Webster started on the mound and pitched two scoreless innings for the Hodags, walking three and striking out three. Tanner Augustine went 1 2/3 innings in relief, allowing three runs on three hits with four walks and three strikeouts. West pitched a perfect final inning and a third, striking out two, to earn the victory.

The Hodags traveled to Eagle River Monday for the final meeting between the teams this season and will travel to league-leading Tomahawk on Wednesday.

Senior Leaguers breeze past Phillips

    Weston Kibler hits an RBI single during the fourth inning of a Northwoods Babe Ruth Senior League game against Phillips at Stafford Field Thursday, June 13. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

A squall line that brought wind gusts in excess of 40 MPH may have been only the second strongest force to sweep through Stafford Field during the second inning of the Hodag Senior League team’s game against Phillips Thursday. 

Rhinelander hung up eight runs that inning, erasing an early two-run deficit and went on to beat Phillips via the run rule, 12-2 in five innings. 

The winds picked up as Rhinelander came to bat in the second and that may have affected the command for the Phillips pitching staff, which walked six batters and hit another during the inning. Rhinelander had only one hit in the frame, but it was a big one as Josh Willoughby smacked a bases-clearing double to left to cap off the eight-run inning. Henry Schmitz had an RBI groundout in the frame while Aidan Lueder and Blake Bauer drew bases loaded walks. 

Parker McCone had an RBI single that drove in Aden Flannery in the third. Hoyt Dantoin reached on and error that plated Schmitz and McCone came around following an overthrow to third on a wild pitch.

Weston Kibler added a two-out single to right in the fourth that scored Willoughby and gave Rhinelander a 10-run margin. 

Flannery and McCone scored twice in the contest while Willoughby had three RBIs.

Tommy Eades started on the mound and allowed a pair of runs on a hit over two innings with five walks and five strikeouts. Bauer struck out two in a perfect third inning. Lueder was credited with the win as he struck out five and walked one over the final two frames. 

The win moved Rhinelander to 2-1 on the season. The Hodags are slated to host two games they week at Stafford Field, taking on Eagle River tonight and Tomahawk on Thursday. 

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].