Team review: Rhinelander Post 7 Rebels

It seemed fitting that the Rhinelander Post 7 Rebels finished an even .500 on the season with nine wins and nine losses. 

There were points this summer where it looked like the Rebels were the team to beat in the Northwoods. At other times, the team had a hard time getting out of its own way.

The Jekyll and Hyde nature of the Rebels was evident in their scores this summer. Rhinelander scored 10 or more runs six times this season — including four of their final six games. However, the Rebels also scored two or fewer runs seven times — including three of their last seven games.

On the defensive side the Rebels allowed two runs or fewer six times but gave up nine runs or more five times. 

When the dust settled, the Rebels finished second in their regional, avenging a couple of tough losses to Northwoods to reach the championship, before getting blown out by a Medford squad that cruised through the tournament. 

Despite the ups and downs, manager Dan Huhnstock said the Rebels had a solid 2025 campaign.

“It’s a pretty darn good year, definitely something that we can build on,” he said. “They got a lot of good experience against some very quality opponents. They know what they need to work on and we just push it forward from here.”

Here are five things to know about this year’s squad.

Highlights

The Rebels came out of the gates firing, putting up 16 runs in the season opener at home against Antigo. They also put together a strong stretch toward the end of the season, winning four of five in a stretch that included the end of the regular season and the regionals, but the team’s most impressive victory may have come July 1 when it defeated Wittenberg-Birnamwood 6-1 at Stafford Field. 

The Rebels took the lead early in that game and never looked back against a Chargers squad that went on to win the Class A state tournament. Vince White struck out seven over four innings and Sawyer Bishop pitched three scoreless innings to earn the save.

“It sure helps when you play clean ball and have good pitching to go with it, and let them make an error or two,” Huhnstock said afterward.

Perhaps the team’s most meaningful win was a 13-0 rout of Northwoods July 26 to reach the Region 2 championship game. Rhinelander bounced back from allowing three runs in the seventh inning a day earlier in a 3-1 loss to the Eagles. 

Lowlights

Underscoring the inconsistency Rhinelander displayed this summer, the team followed up arguably its best performance of its summer with two of its worst. 

Thin on pitching, the Rebels gave up 12 unanswered runs July 2 in a 16-6 loss to Medford and then followed that with an 11-2 loss at Northwoods July 7. Rhinelander allowed nine runs in the first inning of that contest and was never in contention, looking lethargic from the get-go.

“It’s been low,” Huhnstock said regarding his team’s energy following that loss, which dropped the team to a season-worst two games below .500 at 5-7. “You know, it’s been warm. They’ve got 100 different things going on during the day between jobs and other sports and stuff. So, you know, the energy was low. We got to get that address before games really count in regionals.” 

Injuries and depth

A big reason Rhinelander was up and down during the season boiled down to availability. Numbers were already an issue at the start of the year with no returning, age-eligible class of 2024 grads on the squad. Injuries and attrition only added to the numbers crunch. 

Seth Nofftz reaggravated a leg injury that he suffered late in the high school season during the Rebel Invite in mid June and didn’t play again the rest of the summer. Pitcher Mason Schmidt had a couple of good outings early in the year, including a one-run, three-hit complete game effort in a 4-1 victory over Kingsford, Mich., but he exited a game against Minocqua in Merrill June 28 with an arm issue and was also lost for the summer. 

Rhinelander also didn’t get full use out of the ace from the RHS staff this spring, Conner Rappley. He was shelved from the mound most of the summer due to arm issues. He made his first and only pitching appearance for the Rebels during the regional tournament, tossing three scoreless innings against Northwoods July 28 with four strikeouts.

Because of the attrition, the team mainly played the remainder of the summer with 11 players — including a couple of call-ups from the Babe Ruth level. Rhinelander was forced to cancel five of its final six scheduled games in the regular season because of a pair of weekend travel tournaments that took away roughly half of the remaining roster.

“It concerns me, but, they’re going to be playing ball,” Huhnstock said in early July when asked about the canceled games. “So that’s good. And I’m sure we’re going to fill in with some practices as soon as they get back from the second weekend.”

Statbook

    In this June 18, 2025 file photo, Rhinelander’s Vince White throws a pitch during an American Legion baseball game at Antigo. White had a 3-2 record on the summer with a 1.59 ERA. He also led the team in hitting with a .462 average and 13 RBIs. (Jeremy Mayo/River News)
  

If the Rebels had an MVP this summer, a strong case could be made for the honor going to White, a sophomore-to-be. He was, by the numbers, the Rebels’ best hitter and pitcher this summer. 

At the plate White hit a team-best .462 and was tied for the team lead with 13 RBIs. White also got on base at a team-best .632 clip thanks to 18 free passes via walks or being hit by pitches. He was one of only two players on the squad with an OPS (on base plus slugging percentage) over 1.000, clocking in at 1.247. Rappley (1.066) was the other. 

On the mound, White logged a staff-high 28 1/3 innings, striking out 47 as he posted a 3-2 record with a 1.59 ERA.

Offensively, the Rebels saw four players hit over .300 on the summer — White, Dylan Vanderbunt (.370), Rappley (.362) and Josh Willoughby (.333). Rappley had the team’s lone home run and tied White with 13 RBIs while Vanderbunt drove in 11. 

Jackson Waydick and Vanderbunt were the primary starters behind White. Waydick went 1-2 with a 5.00 ERA and 16 strikeouts over 18 innings. Vanderbunt had two rough outings that skewed his ERA, allowing five runs over an inning against Antigo in the opener and nine runs in the first inning at Northwoods. He still managed to go 2-1 on the summer with a 7.13 ERA and 28 strikeouts over 17 2/3 innings. 

Charlie Johnson turned into a solid option out of the bullpen for the Rebels. He did not allow an earned run over 11 innings of work and ended up getting all 21 outs in a 10-7 win over Minocqua after Schmidt exited in the top of the first. He also earned the save in a 2-0 win at Antigo June 18. 

What’s next

The Rebels do have a young nucleus that could be intact for several years to come. Of the players who participated in the regional tournament, only Tyler Chariton ages out of the 19U Legion league next year. 

While Rhinelander’s youth showed in an 11-0 loss to a veteran Medford squad in the regional championship, Huhnstock said Rhinelander could be the juggernaut that the other teams in the regional need to get through in a year or two if the group sticks together.

“They played a team that’s built for a run,” he said. “Basically, with mostly 18- and 19-year olds, high school seniors, and guys that have one year of college experience with them. What we got to do is just keep this group together and build on it, get a few more pieces through the next couple years’ classes and stuff, and then this will be us in a couple years — having just a ton of talent because we’ve got a great, great nucleus.”

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].