Rhinelander 12U All-Stars open District play with a win

Rhinelander scored eight times in the fifth inning, and three Hodag pitchers combined to shut out Rice Lake 10-0 in the start of Little League 12U District 5 tournament play at Doepke Park in Wausau Tuesday.

The Hodags drew four straight one-out walks to start their decisive rally in the fifth before an RBI single by Jeter Vander Galien. Jaxon Eades followed with a two-run double and Vander Galien scored when Eli Bauer reached on an error. Nick Schneider and Cooper Clark added RBI singles as part of the big inning. 

Bauer worked 4 1/3 innings for Rhinelander, giving up four hits with three walks and seven strikeouts. Eades inherited a two-on, one-out situation in the fifth, but got out of it unscathed thanks to a strikeout and a groundout. He struck out two and walked one over an inning and a third. Schneider came on with one out in the sixth, but needed only one pitch to finish the game, inducing a line out double play.

Rhinelander took the lead in the top of the first as Bauer took third on a wild pitch and scored on an overthrow. Griffin Rady scored and insurance run in the sixth, reaching on a single and scoring on an error.

Rhinelander outhit Rice Lake 10-4 in the contest. Schneider had two hits while Vander Galien, Eades, Bauer, Clark, Blake Sundby, Rylan Pasanen, Rady and Paulson had one hit each. 

The game kicked off a four-team district tournament that continued Wednesday as the Hodags took on Wausau National and Thursday as Rhinelander played Wausau American. The top two teams following round-robin play will meet Monday in the championship game.