RHS baseball thunders past Lakeland

MINOCQUA — Remaining unbeaten on the year at 6-0, the Rhinelander High School baseball team chalked up 25 runs in its five-inning win at Lakeland on Thursday April 23. The Hodags backed a strong offense with a defense that held Lakeland to four runs, all of which came in the bottom of the fifth.

The hitting heroics for the Hodags were highlighted with Conner Rappley and Josh Willoughby, who launched a pair of homers over the outfield fence. Rappley and Willoughby, along with first baseman Sawyer Bishop, combined for 12 RBIs, all tying a team-high four on the night. The trio combined for an evening batting average of .750.

On top of 20 hits, the Hodags forced 12 walks against Thunderbird pitchers, but Rhinelander coach Joe Waksmonski said his whole lineup stayed aggressive at the plate and weren’t looking to get walked. 

“It was one through nine, I felt everyone competed,” he said. “We had some great at bats, because, you know, it’s very easy to fall into the trap of ... if a pitcher is wild, he’s just going to walk me, and our guys, you could see they stayed aggressive. They had some real good swings, you know, even when it’s 2-0 or 2-1, they were still looking for their pitch and putting some good swings on the ball.”

The Hodags didn’t waste any time putting a crooked number up on the scoreboard, tallying three runs in the first inning after batting through the entire order. After leadoff Abe Gretzinger reached on an error, Jackson Waydick scored him and nearly hit a homer of his own when he laced one off the center field fence. Bishop grilled a grounder up the middle to score Waydick, and Bishop crossed home when Charlie Johnson put a hard ground ball in play and caused an error from the approaching shortstop. 

    Rhinelander's Rowan Wiczek swings at a pitch during a GNC baseball game against Lakeland Thursday, April 23 in Minocqua. Wiczek contributed to three runs, two hits, and 2 RBIs to the Hodags' 25-run offensive showcase. (Blake Richard/River News)
  

The bottom of the second brought five runs for the green and white, as Rowan Wiczek and Johnson filled the box score with another RBI each, followed by Willoughby collecting two more on a single to shallow left. 

Five more runs crossed home plate in the third, including Rappley’s two-run nuke, before a breakout 10-run inning in the fourth that put Rhinelander up 23-0.  

The fourth inning started when Wiczek weaseled his way to first base after getting hit by a pitch, before Bishop’s bushel of RBIs gained another when he singled to left. Vince White loaded the bases when he was walked before Johnson ripped one to right to score another pair for the Hodags. Hoyt Dantoin entered as a pinch hitter for Weston Kibler, and juiced the bases again with a walk. 

An RBI walk for Gretzinger forced the Thunderbirds, now down 18-0, to the bullpen. The Hodags answered with three straight RBIs from Waydick, Wiczek, and Rappley. The behemoth of a fourth inning was concluded with a two-run double from Bishop before Lakeland squeezed the last out. 

The flare of the top half of the fifth was ignited when Willoughby led off the order and smashed his home run to center field. 

“He found his swing,” Waksmonski said. “He worked on a couple things just before the game on tweaking some things in his stance ... so, hopefully that’s the sign of things to come.”

Rappley got the final Rhinelander RBI of the contest when he hit Waydick home, and the Hodags took the field for the last time in the bottom of the fifth. 

    Rhinelander’s Conner Rappley pitches during a GNC baseball game against Lakeland Thursday, April 23 in Minocqua. Rappley struck out four Thunderbirds in the three innings he pitched, and went 5-for-6 at the plate with a home run. (Blake Richard/River News)
  

The fifth brought a different defensive outcome for the Hodags. In the first four innings, Rhinelander never faced more than four Lakeland batters, going three up, three down in the first and fourth. Six straight walks by Gretzinger let Lakeland gain momentum, so Waksmonski brought White back to the bump after he had previously pitched in the fourth. White retired the next three batters to seal the victory. 

Waksmonski said, “you could definitely see it in the end, (White), especially with this curveball,” was able to keep opposing hitters off balance. “(White) is coming along with a curveball, and he just started throwing it last year...it’s starting to look really good right now.” 

Half of the Hodags’ eight strikeouts came from White, while the other four came from Rappley. 

Through the first three innings, Rappley shutout the Thunderbirds, allowing one walk and Lakeland’s sole hit from Jeff Bolton. 

The Hodags were scheduled to host Crandon on Monday prior to a big GNC matchup on the road this afternoon at Medford. Rhinelander has a home and home set with Tomahawk on April 30 and May 1. They’ll travel to Tomahawk on April 30, a make-up game from the postponed April 9 matchup, before taking on the Hatchets at Stafford Field on Friday. 

Blake Richard may be reached via email at [email protected].