Hodag baseball doubles up Lakeland, gets back to .500

The Rhinelander High School baseball team won its third straight game on Monday, doubling up Lakeland 8-4 in a Great Northern Conference contest in Minocqua.

The win moved Rhinelander (9-9, 6-5 Great Northern) back to .500 overall on the season and guaranteed the team would at least finish the conference slate with a .500 record. 

Conner Rappley hit the Hodags’ first home run of the season in the contest. Rhinelander outslugged Lakeland 11-8 and scored three key insurance runs in the sixth inning to help secure the win. 

Hodag coach Joe Waksmonski said it was another step in the development of his sophomore-heavy squad, which lost to Lakeland 4-0 during the teams’ first meeting last month in Rhinelander. 

“It’s just another sign of the growth of our team, the maturation of our sophomores and, really just being able to grind out good at bats,” he said.

Dylan Vanderbunt worked 2 2/3 innings of relief to earn the save for the Hodags, striking out three and allowing just one hit. He came on for Jackson Waydick in a tight spot in the fifth, with the Hodags up 5-4 and Lakeland sitting with runners on first and second with one out after back-to-back singles by Drew Warren and Benny Gahler. Vanderbunt struck out Tristan Rainey looking and then got Cooper Johnson to ground out to second, ending the threat. 

Rhinelander then expanded the lead against Lakeland ace Ben Peterson in the sixth, as he came on in relief of Warren. Waydick drew a one-out walk before Vanderbunt reached on a bunt single up the third-base line. Seth Nofftz added an RBI double to right. Vanderbunt later scored on a wild pitch and Nofftz came around on a passed ball to give the Hodags a four-run lead. 

That was a change from the first meeting, when Peterson struck out 10 over six shutout innings against the Hodags. 

“We did not allow him to overpower us. I mean, he didn’t overpower, I don’t think anyone in our lineup,” Waksmonski said. “So, you know, the first time through that wasn’t the case. It’s definitely good to see our guys grow up as hitters.”

Vanderbunt worked around a two-out hit batter in the sixth the then wiggled out of a jam in the seventh as a walk to Peterson followed by a double by Warren gave Lakeland runners on second and third with nobody out. Vanderbunt induced a pop out by Gahler, got pinch hitter Jeffrey Bolton to fly out to left and then got Johnson to pop out to end the game.

“He calmly comes in, he throws strikes,” Waksmonski said of Vanderbunt. “Those situations aren’t big for him. He’s been in all of them. He’s that kind of like that senior presence where he comes in and it kind of shuts the door and just grabs our team by the boot straps and picks us up.”

    Rhinelander’s Rowan Wiczek hits a sacrifice fly during the first inning of a GNC baseball game against Lakeland in Minocqua Monday, May 19. (Brett LaBore/Lakeland Times)
  

Rhinelander raced out to a 3-0 lead in the game as Waydick singled and his courtesy runner, John Turek, scored on a sacrifice fly by Rowan Wiczek. Moments later, Rappley took Warren deep to left to give the Hodags an early three-run cushion.

“To go up 3-0 right away before the Jackson had the pitch, that’s always big because right away Lakeland was right at it with their bats,” Waksmonski said.

Ashton Bremer singled, stole two bases and scored when Merick Trotter reached on an error in the bottom of the first and neither team scored again until the fourth. 

Abe Gretzinger reached on an error followed by a double to right by freshman Vince White in the Hodags’ fourth. Gretzinger scored on a wild pitch and White crossed on a passed ball to put Rhinelander up 5-1.

“We were hitting the ball for most of the night. Abe got on with an error but then Vince had a double, another walk, single, and then the passed balls that we scored on we’re kind of characteristic for them, but, we’ll take them anyway at this point,” Waksmonski said.

The Hodags gave away most of their lead in the bottom half of the inning as a single by Warren and two errors loaded the bases with one out. Gabe Karch drew a bases loaded walk, Gahler scored on a passed ball and Bremer added a sacrifice fly to make it a one-run game.

“It just starts with not making some of the routine plays that have to be made defensively,” Waksmonski said. “The fourth inning where they scored those three runs, we gave them gave him five outs that inning. Then they were, they were hitting the ball on top of it.”

    Rhinelander’s Jackson Waydick pitches during the fourth inning of a GNC baseball game against Lakeland in Minocqua Monday, May 19. Waydick worked 4 1/3 innings for the Hodags in a victory as Rhinelander defeated Lakeland, 8-4. (Brett LaBore/Lakeland Times)
  

Waydick went 4 1/3 innings in the win. Only one of the four runs he allowed was earned. He gave up seven hits, walked two and struck out four. 

Vanderbunt, Rappley, Sawyer Bishop and White all collected two hits for the Hodags while Warren went 4-for-4 for the T-Birds. Warren went five innings in defeat, allowing five runs on nine hits with two  walks and two strikeouts.

The Hodags were set to close out the conference schedule at Medford Thursday with plenty on the line. The Raiders still had a shot at earning a share of the GNC crown with a win and a Mosinee loss at Lakeland, while Rhinelander had a chance to move into a second-place tie in the conference with Medford, which would match the team’s best finish in conference play since 2021.

With the regional seeding meeting also right around the corner, Waksmonski said Tuesday’s win over Lakeland could carry significant weight where the Hodags may be seeded.

“We were just looking at some of the season’s summaries right now on the way home, and this is going to play big into our bid to try and host the game in the first round,” he said.

Rhinelander is back home this afternoon to face Marathon in non-conference play. 

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].