Lakeland steals doubleheader sweep from Hodags

Without putting a single ball in play in the bottom of the sixth inning, Lakeland rallied for a pair of runs that helped complete a doubleheader sweep of the Rhinelander High School baseball team Friday night at Stafford Field.

The T-Birds scored the tying and go-ahead runs on wild pitches as they snatched away the nightcap from Rhinelander 7-6. That win came after the T-Birds took advantage on an error-plagued Hodag team in a 13-2 decision in Game 1. 

Self-inflicted mistakes have plagued the Hodags (1-12, 1-7 Great Northern), who saw their current losing streak reach six games. The sixth inning of Game 2 was a microcosm of the Hodags’ struggles.

“Just way too many free bases, wild pitches, passed balls, errors,” Hodag coach Joe Waksmonski said. “We just can’t overcome ourselves right now.”

After scoring three runs in the top of the sixth to take a 6-5 lead, the Hodags were unable to hang on in the bottom half of the inning as they tried to salvage a split. Trouble began when reliever Oscar Hanson plunked leadoff man Danny Gahler and then walked Ashton Bremer. A series of three wild pitches allowed both to score, putting the T-Birds ahead by a run. After another walk to Ben Peterson, Hanson was relieved on the mound by Owen Kurtz, who got the final two outs of the inning via the strikeout, but the damage was already done.

It was all part of a shaky night for the Hodag pitching staff in general. There were 15 walks and four hit batters between the two games, issued by four different pitchers. 

“That was the story of both games, just free bases,” Waksmonski said. “Over the course of two games I think our pitchers had anywhere from 17, 18 walks.”

    Rhinelander’s Seth Nofftz attempts to tag Lakeland’s Danny Gahler on a stolen base attempt during the second inning of the second game of a GNC doubleheader at Stafford Field Friday, May 3. Lakeland stole 16 bases in the doubleheader, including a whopping 12 in Game 2. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

Lakeland’s aggression on the base paths only exacerbated the problem. The T-Birds stole 12 bases in Game 2. That included a trip for Bremer in the fourth inning in which he put Lakeland ahead 4-3 by swiping second, third and home. 

“They took very aggressive leads. We didn’t do a very good job of holding runners at all,” Waksmonski said. “Then there were a couple of times where we thought we did throw out a couple of their runners, but we didn’t get the call to go in our favor either. It was just a number of factors tonight.”

Rhinelander jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the third inning of Game 2 thanks in part to an RBI double by Kaden Vanney and an two-out RBI single by Kurtz. That lead was short-lived, however, as Lakeland answered with three of its own in the bottom of the inning. Tristan Rainey stole third and scored following an overthrow before and RBI single by Jorden Trombello and a sacrifice fly by Mitch Fulton.

Lakeland took the lead on Bremer’s thievery in the fourth and added to it in the fifth as Peterson singled and scored on a wild pitch.

The T-Birds weren’t immune to giving away free bases, either, which helped Rhinelander regain the lead in the sixth. The Hodags loaded the bases with one out in the inning before Max Ratty drew a bases loaded walk to force in a run. Rhinelander tied the game and took the lead on a wild pitch, and subsequent overthrow, that allowed two runs to score.

While Rhinelander had a pair of three-run innings, it also stranded 12 base runners in Game 2. The Hodags were just 2-for-14 with runners in scoring position and came away empty from a bases loaded situation in the fourth inning.

It was a similar story in the first game as Rhinelander was 3-for-15 with runners in scoring position. The Hodags struck first on an RBI groundout by James Heck in the second, but that’s the only damage the team was able to inflict after loading the bases with nobody out.

“We just couldn’t keep it going. That’s kind of been the story of our year, offensively,” Waksmonski said.

Lakeland quickly took the lead in the top of the third thanks to back-to-back RBI doubles by Gahler and Bremer. Bremer later scored on a wild pitch. The T-Birds kept adding to the lead from there, with single runs in the fourth and fifth, two in the sixth and a six-spot in the seventh inning that was aided by four Rhinelander errors.

Ratty took the loss in Game 1 for Rhinelander, allowing five runs on three hits with five walks and seven strikeouts over five innings of work. The Hodags got two hits each from Seth Nofftz, Kurtz and Rowan Wiczek in the game. The team’s second run came in the bottom of the sixth on back-to-back doubles by Kurtz and Wiczek.

“Owen Kurtz had two doubles, one of which was to the right center gap. Same thing with Rowan Wiczek hitting it to that right center gap,” Waksmonski noted. “I’ve always felt a hitter is starting to feel himself if he’s hitting the ball hard to the opposite field gap.”

Heck went 4 2/3 innings with four walks and six strikeouts in a no-decision in Game 2, while Hanson took the loss. Nofftz, Kurtz and Barak Rappley had two-hit games in the nightcap. Rhinelander outhit Lakeland in both contests — 7-6 in Game 1 and 8-5 in Game 2. 

Rhinelander tried to snap the skid yesterday in a home non-conference game against Merrill that concluded after press time for today’s edition. The Hodags hit the road to take on another Wisconsin Valley Conference foe, Wausau East, this afternoon before hosting GNC-leading Mosinee in a doubleheader this coming Saturday. 

With seven games remaining in the regular season, Waksmonski said there still is time for the Hodags to figure things out before the start of the playoffs.

“Ultimately, our goal is to be playing our best baseball at the end of the month here,” he said. “We can still achieve that goal, we just have to believe in ourselves and believe that the work and the practice time that we’re putting in is going to pay off eventually.”

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].