Rebels bounce back in postseason primer

MINOCQUA — Following back-to-back rough outings, the Rhinelander Post 7 Rebels bounced back Monday night in their final contest before the start of the Class AA Legion regional tournament.

Dylan Vanderbunt drove in a pair of runs and struck out nine batters over five innings as the Rebels cruised past a sloppy Minocqua Post 89 squad 10-0 in Minocqua. 

    Rhinelander’s Dylan Vanderbunt takes a pitch during the third inning of an American Legion baseball game in Minocqua Monday, July 14. Vanderbunt was 1-for-4 with 2 RBIs at the plate, and gave up two hits with nine strikeouts on the mound, in the Rebels’ 10-0 win. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

The Rebels (6-7) scored in every inning except the fifth. Vanderbunt was sharp on the mound, walking nobody while scattering two hits. Meanwhile, for the first time in several games, Rhinelander played error-free defense while not running into any unnecessary outs on the base paths. 

The clean performance led to a convincing win following back-to-back losses by a combined margin of 19 runs. 

“Everybody had a little pep in their step tonight. The effort was there and we got off to a good start. It was a good confidence builder,” Rebels manager Dan Huhnstock said. 

For as sharp as Rhinelander was, Minocqua (0-7) was the opposite. The 89ers committed six errors in the contest. Two pitchers combined to walk six batters and passed balls led to another nine free bases for the Rebels. 

Rhinelander used that to its advantage right away in the top of the first as Jackson Waydick walked, took second on a passed ball and third on an error before scoring when Ben Peterson misfired to first on a pickoff attempt against trail runner Vince White. White moved to second on that play, to third on a passed ball and scored on a Sawyer Bishop grounder to give the Rebels a quick 2 -0 lead. 

Charlie Johnson reached on a dropped third strike in the second inning, stole second and came around on a Tyler Chariton single to right that was misplayed in the outfield. Two more passed balls brought Chariton home to put Rhinelander up 4-0 in the second. 

Abe Gretzinger made it 5-0 in the third as he walked, stole second, took third on an error and then stole home as part of a double steal with Chariton. 

Peterson, the No. 1 pitcher for Lakeland’s high school club this spring, allowed five runs — but only one earned — on three hits with four walks and two strikeouts over three innings. 

“We ended up putting a few balls in play off of him. He had a little trouble with the finding the strike zone, gave us a few free base runners, and we were able to take advantage,” Huhnstock said. “We took advantage of some walk and passed balls, stole a bunch bases, you know and then had a couple timely hits to knocking some runs.”

That trend continued for the Rebels off reliever Max Keuer in the fourth. Back-to-back walks started the inning, followed by a two-run single by Vanderbunt. Following a steal and a bloop single by White, Vanderbunt scored when Rowan Wiczek’s fly ball was misplayed in center. Abe Gretzinger then drove in White on a fielder’s choice and scored on a passed ball to give Rhinelander a 10-0 lead. 

It marked just the third time this summer that the Rebels have reached the 10-run plateau. Rhinelander also scored 10 against the 89ers during a tournament June 28 in Merrill and plated 16 against Antigo in the season opener June 11.

That was more than enough run support for Vanderbunt. He sat down the first eight 89ers in order before Garrison Jacques broke up the no-hit and perfect game bids with a two-out single to left in the third. Cooper Johnson had the only other hit against Vanderbunt, a leadoff single in the fifth. 

Vanderbunt needed only 57 pitches to get through five innings on Monday. That was a far cry from one week prior when he threw 59 pitches and lasted only two-thirds of an inning as part of a rough start in a 11-2 loss against Northwoods in Eagle River. 

“You talk about a night and day difference from his last outing,” Huhnstock said. “He ended up throwing a complete game, in about the same amount of pitches that he threw in the first inning last game. He was dialed in and just dealing tonight. Vintage Dylan Vanderbunt.”

Due to another club travel tournament that a number of team members are participating in this weekend, the Rebels canceled Wednesday game at home against Crandon and a doubleheader at Medford scheduled for this evening. 

The Legion regional tournament gets underway next Thursday in Minocqua with the Rebels taking on Merrill in the final game of Day 1. 

“We’re going to have a practice (next) Monday and Wednesday and hopefully get everybody geared up (to) have a great effort and make a run in regionals,” Huhnstock said. 

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].