Monsters hold off Merrill 11-9

MERRILL — What looked to be a runaway early got far too close for comfort for the Rhinelander River Monsters on Sunday. Luckily, a strong start and some later insurance was just enough for their first win of the Dairyland League season.

The Monsters squandered nearly all of an eight-run lead but held on to defeat Merrill 11-9 at Athletic Park. Easton Senoraske had two hits, drove in four runs and closed things out by striking out five over three innings of scoreless relief. Jesse Robinson went deep to lead off the eighth inning, a needed insurance run after the Rangers cut what was a 10-2 lead to 10-9.

“I sure wish TJ was here. I sure do,” quipped acting manager Andy VanDyke, who ran the show Sunday with manager Todd Johnson unavailable due to a prior commitment. “It was interesting, that’s the way I’d say it, but that’s baseball, it’s never over until it’s over.”

Quinn Lamers labored through 3 1/3 innings and a postage-stamp strike zone, walking 10 batters while striking out three. The Monsters were able to survive the free bases until the Rangers began finding holes in the defense. Merrill scored four times in the fourth and three more in the fifth.

Merrill threatened to take the lead in the seventh as Martin Hoger walked the first two batters of the inning before Rhinelander went to Senoraske out of the bullpen. Hoger, who moved to second following the pitching change, made a basket catch on a Clay Schult blooper to shallow right and, after a Jayden Sus single loaded the bases with one out, Senoraske fanned Connor Cortright and Caleb DeJong back-to-back to get out of the inning unscathed. 

    Rhinelander’s Jesse Robinson swings at a pitch during the fourth inning of a Dairyland League baseball game at Merrill Sunday, May 19. Robinson homered in the eighth inning of Sunday’s game, a key insurance run in the River Monsters’ 11-9 win. (Jeremy Mayo/River News)
  

Moments later, Robinson jacked his first home run as a Monster, taking a 1-2 offering by Nick Kriegel deep to left center. 

“Easton came in and shut them down. That was great, fun to watch. Jesse’s bomb in the eighth was big just in terms of insurance,” VanDyke said.

Rhinelander erased a Kriegel leadoff single in the bottom of the eighth by going around the horn and turning a double play on a grounder third by Garrett Pagel. Senoraske then sat down Justin Pyan to end the eighth and struck out two more in a perfect ninth to finish earn the save.

Senoraske pitched only one-third of an inning last year for the River Monsters after feeling something go awry in his arm during a non-league game against Tomahawk. On a day when Monsters’ ace Joe Schneider returned but was only available for bullpen duty due to a sore arm, Senoraske’s performance signaled some added depth for the Rhinelander pitching staff.

“He just hummed. Easton’s had some arm issues in the last couple of years, so we were concerned about putting him in, in the ninth, but he was humming and it just felt like the right thing to do. He felt good and they just couldn’t touch him. It was beautiful to watch,” VanDyke said.

Senoraske hummed at the plate early, smacking his fourth double in two games in the top of the first to give Rhinelander a quick 2-0 lead. Joe Schneider added an RBI groundout to make it 3-0 after a half inning. 

Merrill got a run back in the bottom of the inning as Peyton Becker walked and scored on a Schult double, but the Monsters feasted on three Ranger errors to put up a four-spot in the second. 

Hoger reached on an error and scored from first when Merrill misplayed the relay on Kurt Zuiker’s double to deep right. Zuiker scored two batters later when Ben Quade reached on an error. Senoraske hit a sacrifice fly that plated Lamers and Randolph added a two-out single to make it 7-1.

“Their jumps in those situations were great and it was fun to watch those first four innings,” VanDyke said.

Rhinelander plated two more without the aid of a hit in the third as Henry Reimann walked two straight batters, then plunked Lamers before walking Quade to force in a run. Senoraske drove in another on a groundout to third. 

Merrill inched back as the zone constricted on Lamers, who walked four straight batters before getting out of a one-out jam in the third. Two more errors allowed Randolph to reach base and score to make it 10-2 Rhinelander in the top of the fourth before Merrill made its comeback.

    Rhinelander’s Josh Randolph attempts to tag Merrill’s Peyton Becker out at third base during the fourth inning of a Dairyland League baseball game at Merrill Sunday, May 19. Becker was called save on the play and later scored. (Jeremy Mayo/River News)
  

Schult capped off a string of three straight one-out hits with an RBI single before Lamers issued back-to-back walks to force in another run and end his time on the hill. Hoger walked the first batter he faced, Caleb DeJong, to force in another before Brad Kanitz hit an RBI single to left. That had the potential to be a two-run single but Schneider fired in a bullet from left and easily cut down Cortright trying to score from second on the play. Pagel flew out to left to end the inning. 

Merrill strung four straight hits off of Hoger — three of which were hit softly through holes in the Rhinelander defense — cutting the lead to 10-7 with nobody out in the fifth. Cortright reached on a fielder’s choice that plated Becker before he and Reimann executed a double steal of second and home that made it 10-9. Cortright was picked off second moments later to end that threat. 

Lamers and Hoger combined to walk 14 batters over six-plus innings for Rhinelander. Merrill’s pitchers didn’t fare much better, walking eight and hitting two others.

“We’ve had that guy a number of times and we know that that’s the case but, this early in the year it’s hard to really get the vibe for what he’s doing,” VanDyke said of the small strike zone. “We’ll see him at least two or three more times this year. Know we’ve just got to know.”

Merrill tried to threaten again in the sixth after DeJong led off with a single, but Kriegel’s sacrifice attempt was bunted too strongly at Hoger and resulted in a double play. 

Merrill outhit Rhinelander 12-9 in the contest but committed eight errors on the day while the River Monsters had none. 

Rhinelander (1-1) will be home this coming Sunday to face the Everest Merchants in a noon start at Stafford Field. The defending runners-up in both the Dairyland League and the WBA state tournament are off to a 1-0 start after defeating Whittlesey 6-1 on Sunday.

“It’s a new year and we’ll see who they have. I expect a good baseball game,” VanDyke said. “This is a good team. We’ve just got to keep working out some of these rusty hinges, but I expect a good game, hopefully good weather and people come out (to watch).” 

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].