Team preview: RHS baseball

It almost goes without saying, following a 1-19 season, that the Rhinelander High School baseball team has plenty of room for improvement in 2025. 

The Hodags bring back a handful of players from that squad and hope to be bolstered by a young, sophomore group that will be getting its first taste of varsity action this spring. 

“Time, I guess, will kind of tell and see how it’s going to look here,” said Hodag coach Joe Waksmonski, who’s beginning his 19th year as the Hodags skipper. “It’s going to be about this team coming together and seeing how quickly that we can grow.”

The Hodags will figure out right away how the pieces will come together as they get set to play three games this weekend at the Woodside Sports Complex in Mauston. The Hodags face Hortonville this afternoon, followed by games tomorrow against Bloomer and Barron. It kicks off a busy 22-game schedule as the program looks to rebound only four years removed from playing in a sectional final.

The Hodags bring back seven players with previous varsity experience with the high school club and/or the Rhinelander Post 7 American Legion program last summer. That group is led by the Hodags’ two returning all-conference selections in seniors Dylan Vanderbunt and Seth Nofftz. 

Those two, coincidentally, had the best bats for the Hodags last spring. Vanderbunt hit .362 with a double and four RBIs while Nofftz was .288 with three doubles, an RBI and was 3 for 3 in stolen base attempts. 

Other returning players include seniors Tyler Chariton, Barak Rappley, John Turek and Mason Schmidt, along with sophomore Rowan Wiczek. Bolstering that group will be a number of underclassmen who were part of a JV squad that went 18-3 last spring. 

The Hodags had to adjust their plans this week at practice following the deflation of the Hodag Dome due to damage. However, Waksmonski said he was pleased with what he saw from the team in live situations during the first week of practice. 

“It seems like our pitchers, this crew seems like they’ll be able to throw some more strikes this year. You know our hitters as well. Our hitters seem to be a little more aggressive at the plate,” he said. “They seem to have more of a plan, but I think you know what we can tell from our initial matchups our pitchers, for the most part, have been right around the plate.” 

Vanderbunt will be Rhinelander’s most experienced pitcher this season. He went a combined 2-9 between the high school and Legion seasons last year with a 6.30 ERA, 59 walks and 48 strikeouts over 56 2/3 innings. Behind him there are some less-experienced arms, though Schmidt fared well with the Rebels last summer, going 3-1 with a 2.69 ERA and 31 strikeouts over 26 innings.

“Dylan obviously has lots of varsity pitching experience, throwing the last two years. We’re kind of looking for him to try and be the leader and keep guys calm. Mason had some experience last summer throwing for the Legion team, but he threw a lot also last spring for the JV team,” Waksmonski said. 

Beyond that, a number of sophomores will likely round out the rotation. Waksmonski noted Conner Rappley, Jackson Waydick and Abe Gretzinger logged plenty of innings between JV and travel baseball last year. Wiczek and fellow sophomore left-hander Sawyer Bishop are also expected to see time on the mound. With three games this weekend, Waksmonski said he expects his entire staff will see plenty of work. 

“We’re not going to extend guys out too much here,” he said. “Each guy will probably get two or three innings max and we can kind of give them a taste of varsity experience and kind of see what the first round looks like for them on the mound.”

The Hodags will be green at catcher, too, with Adrian Patrone graduating. Waydick and another sophomore, Josh Willoughby, have seen time there during spring practice. 

“Jackson Waydick’s been very solid behind the plate,” Waksmonski said. “Jackson puts a lot on the baseball. He played in a couple tournaments on his own this offseason and, you know, he’s really progressed as a catcher. Very solid back-up, very good receiver, improving as a blocker and then throwing as well. He’s got a very strong arm and it’s very accurate as well. After him right now, it’s looking like Josh Willoughby is going to be behind him and Josh is another guy that logged some innings on the JV team last year behind the plate, but again has looked pretty good actually his couple practices this spring.”

Nofftz and Barak Rappley return for the Hodags on the infield. Nofftz was an all-conference infielder while predominantly playing shortstop last year, but Waksmonski said the plan is to move him to second and go with two sophomores — Gretzinger and Conner Rappley on the left side of the infield. 

“Seth obviously, having some all conference recognition, we’re going to look for him for leadership on the infield and in our lineup,” he said. “Seth, it’s looking like we’ll ship him over to second base. Just kind of the way Abe Gretzinger plays shortstop — you know Abe’s a vocal kid and he’s got a very strong arm — and with Seth we just feel the way our pitching staff is this year and the way we call games, he’s going get a lot of ground balls that side of the field. So having a strong defender there is very important.”

The Hodags have perhaps the most returning experience in the outfield with Vanderbunt patrolling center again. Wiczek made a number of starts in right for the team last spring while Turek saw plenty of action there over the summer. 

“Dylan in centerfield, he obviously was our center last year, so he’ll have a lot of experience out there and with Dylan being a leader and you know I think will be just fine,” Waksmonski said. “We’ll kind of start with those three and see where it goes from there.”

Waksmonski hinted that Wiczek could see some time at third this spring, when Conner Rappley is on the bump and Chariton could see more time in the outfield than in the past. He dabbled some in the outfield last summer for the Rebels while also seeing time at second.

Besides Rhinelander’s youth, there are plenty of other unknowns this year, especially at the top of the Great Northern Conference. Mosinee advanced to the D2 state championship game last year while Medford played in the sectional finals. Both squads lost plenty of seniors from last year and have new head coaches this year — Ty Cook at Mosinee and Chandler Schmidt at Medford. Overall, the conference is young with only two returning first teamers —Parker Lissner at Medford and Preston Knapkavage at Antigo.

“Mosinee obviously lost a lot, but they also have had a very good JV program,” Waksmonski said. “One of their main pitchers ... Ethan Oatman, he’s coming off of an arm injury last year and he’s a very good pitcher. They got a couple other guys that throw hard as well. It seems like you know Medford lost a lot, but I know they had a sophomore lefty pitcher that’s going to be back and he’s going to be a thorn in the conference’s side. Antigo has a couple guys back. Lakeland has (Ben) Peterson back. So there’s still going be enough good, quality arms in our conference, but I don’t know if each team will be as deep as they were this last year in the pitching department.”

Rhinelander is slated to begin GNC play at home against Tomahawk this coming Tuesday and then travel to Antigo next Friday, though it was unclear as of press time if field conditions would allow those games to take place as scheduled, or if the games could potentially be moved elsewhere. The Hodags are slated to play seven of their first nine games of the season on the road.

Aside from trying to play its best come tournament time, Waksmonski said he was unsure of what the team’s potential could be this season. He said much of it will depend on how well the team gels over the next couple of months. 

“I mean this year is really tough, I think, to kind of figure out what we’re going be as a team, just because, A, we’re so new and so young and then, B, the rest of the conference lost a lot of talent,” he said. “So it’s kind of hard to predict and see where we’re going to be and what not. It’s going to be based on how well our younger kids can adjust to the varsity game.”

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected]. 

Date    Opponent    Time

4/4    Hortonville (at Mauston)    5:45 p.m.

4/5    Bloomer (at Mauston)    11:15 am.

4/5    Barron (at Mauston)    1:30 p.m.

4/8    TOMAHAWK*    5 p.m.

4/11    at Antigo*    5 p.m.

4/14    NORTHLAND PINES*    5 p.m.

4/15    at Adams-Friendship    5 p.m.

4/17    at Crandon    5 p.m.

4/22    at Mosinee*    5 p.m.

4/25    LAKELAND*    5 p.m.

4/28    at Merrill    5 p.m.

4/29    MEDFORD*    5 p.m.

5/2    at Tomahawk*    5 p.m.

5/5    at D.C. Everest    5 p.m.

5/6    ANTIGO*    5 p.m.

5/9    at Northland Pines    5 p.m.

5/12    WAUSAU EAST    5 p.m.

5/15    MOSINEE*    5 p.m.

5/19    at Lakeland*    5 p.m.

5/22    at Medford*    5 p.m.

5/23    MARATHON    5 p.m.

5/27    THREE LAKES    5 p.m.

5/29    Regionals    TBA

* Conference games  | HOME GAMES IN CAPS