Late winter storm throws baseball, soccer a curveball

Had practice started two days earlier, there would have been a decent chance that the Rhinelander High School baseball and girls’ soccer teams could have been outside.

Unfortunately for those squads, an early spring snowmaker on the eve of practice has moved the teams inside for a few days at least. Roughly five inches of snow fell Sunday, covering what had been cleared Stafford Field and Mike Webster Stadium. 

Joe Waksmonski, beginning his 19th season as the skipper of the Hodag baseball team, said it’s just Mother Nature being predictably unpredictable.

“I always said there’s two snowstorms. We got one of the way. So at some point there’s going to be another one. I don’t know when or where, but we got one out of the way,” he said. “Stafford Field was twice, in the last month and a half, has been down to grass and dirt. Now we’re obviously covered again.”

The snowstorm forced a late start within the School District of Rhinelander Monday morning. That was bad news for the RHS girls’ soccer team, which was scheduled to get things underway with a 5:30 a.m. practice and, instead, had to wait until the evening to begin its preparations. 

“Mother Nature had other things in store for her and she, I guess, wanted us to have winter a bit a little bit longer, unfortunately,” Hodag girls’ soccer coach Nathan Bates said. “She wasn’t very nice to us. She cost us morning practice and screwed all sorts of stuff up for us, but that’s all right. Thankfully we got the dome to work in, which is still nice that we can have a you know, full-size facility to practice on.”

The Hodag Dome was busy place Monday as practices got underway for the two sports. Both teams are under a bit of time crunch with three games already on the horizon late next week and limited dome time this weekend due to the Danny Mac Softball Classic, which will occupy the turf space in the dome from Thursday morning until Sunday afternoon. 

    Dylan Vanderbunt, right, chases Barak Rappley in a rundown drill during Rhinelander High School baseball practice in the Hodag Dome Monday, March 24. (Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

Because of that, Waksmonski said the baseball team used its roughly 1-hour, 45-minute session Monday getting right down to business, as opposed to running a skills combine — which had been customary in the past on the opening day of camp. 

“You don’t get a lot of time when you have the turf to yourself. So, I just felt like we can do that some of that other testing stuff on different nights,” he said. “It will be about, getting together, playing catch, going through an infield outfield. (We’ll) kind of judge and see how we guys are at positionally, watch them play, watch them field, watch them throw. And then, after that, we’ll get into some hitting stations and kind of set guys up on in different areas and just kind of rotate around.”

The Hodag soccer team also got to work quickly. Bates figures his team will have roughly 35 girls by the time all is said than done, the majority of whom are freshmen and sophomores. Despite a young core, there’s plenty of experience on the team and many took part in offseason opportunities to improve. That allowed to team to jump right into day one. 

“We’re kind of working on formations where we kind of went out today and knocked some of the rust off, started off with doing some first touches and passing work and then after that we started doing some half-sided scrimmage today in formation to work with the girls,” he said. “We have a couple holes to fill from last year, so we’re kind of switching some people in and out on certain positions here, between defense and midfield. So we’re trying to fill a couple gaps here, but we definitely have the personnel to fill those gaps.”

Both teams need to prepare quickly. The Hodag baseball team will play three games in Wisconsin Dells next Friday and Saturday. Following the conclusion of the Danny Mac on Sunday, the team plans to get into the dome and hold an intrasquad scrimmage. Waksmonski said it will be key for his team to get some simulated game action before next Friday’s opener. 

“It seems like we’ve been struggling over the years, the first time out, throwing strikes. Hitters same thing as well as just seeing pitches,” he said. “So, I think this year our focus, especially in this early season, is making sure our pitchers and our hitters have seen enough live action.”

Meanwhile the Hodag soccer team will play three consecutive games in the Hodag Dome beginning next Thursday against Three Lakes. That will be followed by strong non-conference tests against Eau Claire Memorial and Marshfield next Friday and Saturday. 

“We got really hit the ground running and put in the time, that’s why we have morning practice and afternoon practices to try to get the kinks worked out,” Bates said. “Next week, we hit the ground running again. We got a game Thursday, game Friday, game Saturday. So it’s going to come fast.”

The Hodag boys’ tennis and golf teams are the only two yet to begin practice for the upcoming season. Their practices will being next Monday, the first day allowed by the WIAA.  

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].