Miracle over Mosinee

After all the bad breaks that have gone against the Rhinelander High School baseball team in close ball games over the last couple of years, the Hodags were due to have the ball bounce their way sooner or later.

It finally did Friday and it produced, unquestionably, the biggest win of the season so far for the Hodags.

John Turek and Jackson Waydick scored following a two-out error in the bottom of the seventh and the Hodags scored a dramatic 4-3 walkoff victory over Great Northern Conference-leading Mosinee at Stafford Field.

The Hodags had the tying and winning runs in scoring position with two outs when Seth Nofftz hit what appeared to be a routine ground ball to Mosinee shortstop Treve Stoffel. But Stoffel’s throw sailed wide up the first-base line and couldn’t be hauled in by first baseman Brady Lokken. Turek had already scored and Waydick scampered home as the ball skidded into foul territory, setting off a wild celebration for the home team.

“It was pure joy,” Hodag coach Joe Waksmonski said. “You could see the dugout erupt. You could see the fans erupt. It’s one of those moments you love to bottle up.”

Rhinelander had already lost two one-run games in GNC play this spring, and appeared destined for another after Mosinee rallied to tie the game with two runs in the sixth and then took the lead following a controversial play in the seventh. 

Elliot Yirkovsky walked to lead off that inning and, two batters later, was deemed safe on a close pickoff play to first base. That caused the Hodag dugout to erupt as, from their angle, it appeared first-baseman Sawyer Bishop applied the tag on Yirkovsky before Yirkovsky’s hand got back to the bag. Carter Fandrey doubled deep to center on the very next pitch, scoring Yirkovsky and giving Mosinee a 3-2 lead.

“We’ll never apologize for a win, but, you know, after the call in the top of the seventh where we felt like we had the runner picked off of first — which was then followed up with the double, of course. We felt we were owed something there a little bit,” Waksmonski said.

Karma repaid the Hodags in the bottom of the inning as Tyler Chariton hit a flare to shallow left for a one-out hit that start the rally before he was lifted for Turek as a pinch runner. Waydick followed with another single that got by Fandrey in left, allowing both he and Turek to move into scoring position with less than two outs. Dylan Vanderbunt struck out before Nofftz put the first offering from reliever Ethan Cherek in play for the winner.

“It starts with our at bats and getting ahead right away, I know a number of those bats, we were up 2-0, 2-1 in those counts, and then we were in the driver’s seat. We got our pitches and we put the ball in play,” Waksmonski said. “Then they had a couple miscues and we were able to take advantage of them — and, obviously, the big miscue at the end.”

The Hodags were able to take advantage of Mosinee miscues all night, and used them to jump out to a 2-0 lead after four innings. 

Waydick was hit by a pitch with the bases clear and two out in the third and Vanderbunt was plunked by a 2-2 curveball from Mosinee starter Zach Nechuta right behind that. That set the table for Nofftz to single to center and drive in what proved to be the Hodags’ lone RBI.

The bases were clear again with two gone in the fourth when Abe Gretzinger burned the Mosinee defense with a line drive to center that drifted all the way back to the warning track for a triple, thanks to the aid of a helping southwesterly breeze. He scored moments later on a wild pitch.

While the Hodags managed only three hits over six innings against Nechuta, Waksmonski said his team competed much better against the hard-throwing Mosinee righty than the team’s first meeting on April 22. Nechuta tossed a complete-game one-hitter that night with eight strikeouts in an 5-1 win over the Hodags in Mosinee.

“Offensively, we were on him. I mean, we had some great, great at bats early on,” Waksmonski said. “I felt that kind of got in his head a little bit to where, you know, middle innings, we started getting base runners on and doing a couple things. Obviously at the end, when they brought the relief in, we were able to get some guys on, make some things happen and put the ball in play.”

    Rhinelander’s Conner Rappley pitches during the first inning of a GNC baseball game against Mosinee at Stafford Field Friday, May 16. Rappley allowed three runs on nine hits with a pair of strikeouts in a complete-game win for the Hodags. (Jeremy Mayo/River News)
  

Conner Rappley went the distance for Rhinelander, allowing three runs on nine hits with a pair of strikeouts. Waksmonski said Rappley was able to pitch to contact and the Hodag defense was nearly flawless behind him, committing no errors. 

“With Conner, if we can get him to throw strikes, he’s a hard kid to hit,” Waksmonski said. “His fastball was moving, maybe it was a little bit wind-aided tonight, but I know a number of times he was able to bust Mosinee hitters in with his fastball. Number one, he’s got velocity. Number two, he’s got some movement. He was able to keep them off balance and kind of help them hit it to our defense tonight. 

“I felt Abe Gretzinger had a great game at shortstop. You know, there were a number of ground balls hit to him, there wasn’t a single miscue on his part. They were all good throws over to first base. And, you know, really, that’s what it’s about. You make good quality pitches, throw strikes and make routine plays defensively and the good things will happen.”

Mosinee rallied to tie the game in the sixth as Stoffel was hit by a pitch and scored on a double to deep right by Sebastian Anderson. Anderson scored three batters later on a single by Noah Zebro, but Mosinee followed with another gaffe that cost them a chance to take the lead. Kaden Kolodziej bolted for home on a line drive to left by Tyler Baars but was doubled off third base to end the inning after freshman Vince White flagged down the fly ball.

The win moved Rhinelander back to .500 in a topsy-turvy GNC. The Hodags traveled to Lakeland Monday in a game that concluded after press time for today’s edition and will close out the conference season at Medford on Thursday. Waksmonski said Friday’s win, coupled with the Hodags’ come-from-behind win at Antigo last Tuesday, give the team plenty of confidence entering the home stretch.

“That’s what kind of we talked about at the end, trying to play our best baseball here at the end of the season,” he said. “We got two big conference wins here at the end of the week. You know, so you’re going to the next week with our last two conference games, plus another non-conference. We just want to be playing our best ball in and I feel like we’re starting to peak.”

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].