Rebels drop two in rain-soaked invite

Mother Nature took the first two days of the Rebel Invite away from Rhinelander Post 7 over the weekend. A pair of Class AAA teams nabbed the final day from the Rebels.

The Rebels struggled offensively and lost both games of their weather-shortened home invite, falling 7-0 to Oconomowoc and 5-2 to D.C. Everest Sunday at Stafford Field. 

Rhinelander (1-2) had only two hits in the opener against Oconomowoc and struggled to cash in during key moments in the second game as the Evergreens eventually broke a 2-all tie in the fourth. 

“First game we came out and just did not have real good focus, energy. What happens is you get shut out then,” Rebels manager Dan Huhnstock said. “Second game, we had a couple breaks that didn’t go our way with running bases, where we had guys slip in crucial spots ended up turning into a couple outs.”

That any games were played at all over the weekend was no small feat. Roughly an inch and a half of rain fell in the area Friday and Saturday, washing away the opening two days of the tournament and causing one of the five teams originally scheduled to appear to head home early. Four teams stuck around and played two games each Sunday after volunteers worked to get the field in playable condition. 

“Actually, it’s pretty solid out there,” Huhnstock said of the field conditions afterward. “I was amazed with all the rain. It really turned out to be a pretty solid footing out there.”

However a couple of key slips on the base paths cost Rhinelander a chance to take the lead during the fourth inning of the nightcap against Everest. 

Conner Rappley started that inning with a shot to the fence in right center. He slipped and fell after making the turn around second and, instead of legging out a triple, was thrown out trying to scamper back to second base. Vince White followed with a walk, but was picked off first after slipping while taking a secondary lead. 

    Rhinelander’s Charlie Johnson hits a single during the third inning of an American Legion baseball game against Everest at Stafford Field Sunday, June 15. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

Sawyer Bishop singled behind that. Abe Gretzinger walked and Tyler Chariton was hit by a pitch to load the bases, but the Rebels got nothing out of the inning after Charlie Johnson grounded out to first. 

“We were a base hit away from making it a real tight game,” Huhnstock said.

Everest instead took the lead for good thanks to two runs with two outs in the bottom of the fourth. After Brody Hall walked to keep the inning alive, George Jablonski dumped an RBI single to right and Hall later scored on a passed ball. 

The Evergreens tacked on one more against starter Jackson Waydick in the fifth as Cole VanSlyke led off with a double, moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on an infield hit by JJ Louis. 

Everest jumped out in front in the second on a sacrifice fly by Hall and an RBI double by Jablonski. Rhinelander, serving as the visiting team by virtue of a coin flip, tied it on a two-run, two-out double by Dylan Vanderbunt in the third, but Vanderbunt was forced out of the game moments later, appearing to step on his own hand after diving back to second base on a pick off move by Cade Felch.  

Huhnstock said it was just the story of the day for Rhinelander.

“Stuff that, you know, is not normal everyday baseball plays,” he said. 

Waydick took the loss allowing five runs on six hits over five innings with four walks and a five strikeouts. Johnson, making his first varsity-level pitching appearance worked around a leadoff single and struck out two batters in a scoreless sixth. 

“I think Jackson pitched very well. Actually, we’re getting contributions a little bit here, a little bit there from everybody today — either defensively or offensively,” Huhnstock noted. 

Oconomowoc 7, Rhinelander 0

    Rhinelander’s Jackson Waydick leads off first base while Oconomowoc’s Alex Herzog pitches during an American Legion baseball game at Stafford Field Sunday, June 15. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

Oconomowoc cashed in on chances early in Sunday’s opener while Rhinelander did not. By the time the Rebels closed the floodgates on Oconomowoc’s offense, their own scoring opportunities also ran dry. 

Oconomowoc scored all seven of its runs in the first three innings while Alex Herzog scattered two hits over seven innings as the Rebels dropped their opener. 

Rhinelander had runners in scoring position in each of the first three innings, but was 0-for-6 at the plate in those instances and did not get another runner to second base until the seventh inning. 

Oconomowoc took advantage of some erratic Rhinelander pitching early in the contest. Mason Schmidt walked three batters and hit another over two innings in defeat, and allowed all three hits that Rhinelander surrendered. He gave off back-to-back leadoff singles in the first, which came around on a Jack Pipp ground out and a sacrifice fly by Kaden Perry. Charlie Hall added a two-run double in the second after Schmidt loaded the bases with two walks and a hit batter. 

Vince White came on in relief in the third, but needed the better part of an inning to settle in. He allowed four straight batters aboard freely — two by walks and two by hit batsmen — and saw three runs cross on wild pitches. The sophomore-to-be walked only two and recorded six of his seven strikeouts over his final 3 2/3 innings of work. 

“That’s a deep hole to dig and, you know, they are pretty good ball club, so it’s real hard hole to dig out of when you’re playing against a good team,” Huhnstock said. 

Herzog walked the bases loaded in the Rhinelander first, but the Rebels came up empty as Abe Gretzinger flew out to center with two away. White reached on a one-out single in the second and got to third on a pair of wild pitches, but Waydick flew out to left to end that threat. 

Rhinelander had runners on second and third with one out in the third after Seth Nofftz reached on an error and Rowan Wiczek doubled, but Conner Rappley flew out and Gretzinger grounded out to end the inning. 

Up next

The Rebels were scheduled to be back in action Wednesday at Antigo in a game that concluded after press time for today’s edition. Rhinelander defeated the Typhoon 16-4 in the season opener last Wednesday at Stafford Field. 

Rhinelander travels to Wittenberg this evening and will be home this coming Monday to take on Kingsford, Mich.

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].