RHS baseball sweeps Tomahawk

The offense of the Rhinelander High School baseball team proved two runs too many for the Tomahawk Hatchets in each game of their back-to-back series Thursday, April 30 and Friday, May 1.

Behind a no-hitter from junior pitcher Conner Rappley, the Hodags defeated Tomahawk 2-0 at home on Thursday and then fended off a late Hatchet rally to prevail in nine innings on Friday, 6-4.

The seventh-ranked Hodags (9-0, 8-0 Great Northern) remained a game up on Northland Pines in the GNC race after the Eagles swept a double from Antigo on Friday. Rhinelander is looking for its first conference title since 2012.

“You kind of start that second round robin at 0-0 again, at least in our head,” Hodag coach Joe Waksmonski said. “The second time through, you want to do the same thing you did the first time ... so it’s very important to get this second win against Tomahawk.”

Rhinelander 2, Tomahawk 0

    Rhinelander’s Josh Willoughby catches a short fly ball in the fourth inning of a conference game against Tomahawk at Stafford Field April 30. Willoughby was 2-for-6 in the series with two RBIs. (Blake Richard/River News)
  

Snow fell prior to first pitch in Thursday’s game Stafford Field in Rhinelander. Though the weather was cold, the Hodags used a hot start and Rappley’s hot arm to take the first game of the series. 

The Hodags scored one run on the first two pitches of the game, and scored their only two runs in the first inning.

“It was a great pitching game,” Waksmonski said. “The biggest thing we told (Conner) was, in this kind of weather, throw strikes. And there were a couple spots there where, you know, he kind of got wild and he would walk guys and stuff, but he just kept his composure and came back, made his adjustments in his head, and threw strikes.”

Waksmonski added that the defense backed a strong performance by Rappley in his second career no-hitter.

“For the most part, we made the plays behind him. Jackson (Waydick) did a great job behind the plate catching for him. But really, I mean, all the credit in the world goes to Conner. I mean, what a tremendous game throwing in this weather,” he said. 

Rappley recorded 10 strikeouts and walked three in the seven innings of play. He had a strikeout in every inning but the fourth, when he walked opening batter, and fellow pitcher, Wally Horabick. The Hodags still made quick work of the Hatchet lineup, though, as Rappley picked off Horabick and then Sawyer Bishop and Josh Willoughby squeezed the next outs to retire the three Hatchets in order.  

The Hodags started a rally in the fourth when Vince White hit a double and made it to third on a fielder’s choice, but back-to-back lineouts to Hatchet second baseman Colton Seslar stunted the rally and left White at third. 

“We were getting hits,” Waksmonski said. “We had eight hits tonight. You know, we had some more doubles. We would get runners on second and third, and ... I think we lined out twice to the second baseman ... we lined out to the shortstop another inning, so, I mean, we just couldn’t quite find the holes after we scored the first two runs.”

The only two runs of the game came when Abe Gretzinger doubled on the first pitch, and Waydick hit him home on the next pitch. Rowan Wiczek grounded out to advance Waydick before Rappley doubled to right-center to bring Waydick around. 

The following innings brought hits for the Hodags, but they couldn’t string enough together as the Hatchets gloved enough of them to shut Rhinelander out the rest of the game. 

“It’s tough to play baseball in (this weather), but, you know, both teams are playing in this weather, and we got to battle in these elements at some point, and it’s fun to come out on top of a game like this, and definitely, it’s going to be a game that, you know, all these guys will be talking about for a long time,” Waksmonski said. 

Rhinelander 6, Tomahawk 4, 9 innings

    Rhinelander’s Charlie Johnson pitches in the third inning in a conference game against Tomahawk May 1. Johnson had seven strikeouts in five innings and gave up one run. (Blake Richard/River News)
  

The Hatchets got off to a sharp start during inning one at Kahle Field in Tomahawk on Friday May 1. Pitcher Logan Norman struck out the side to start the game and Jonah Dickens worked a full count before punching one through the shortstop/third baseman gap to start a rally for the Hatchets. Cash Olsen also singled to move Dickens, before Dickens scored on a sacrifice fly to left field by designated hitter Brody Hilgendorf. Waydick caught Olsen stealing third to end the inning and give the Hodags momentum going into their at-bat in the second. 

The Hodags were able to reclaim the lead in the second on a two-out single from Josh Willoughby that scored Rappley and Vince White. 

Rhinelander added two more in the fourth, starting when White reached on an error and was bunted over into scoring position on a sacrifice from Charlie Johnson. White survived a pickle when Willoughby hit a grounder to the left side of the infield and Wes Kibler walked to load the bases with White at third and Willoughby on second. Gretzinger ousted a single to score White and Willoughby, leaving a first and third situation for the Hodags with Waydick due up at the plate. 

Gretzinger was on his way to steal second when Waydick hit a pop fly that allowed the Hatchets to double off Waydick and Gretzinger to end the inning. But with an additional two runs, the Hodags had a 4-1 lead for most of the game and maintained it going into the Hatchets’ last chance during the bottom of the seventh. 

A costly error in a rundown between Hodag third baseman Johnson and catcher Waydick allowed two runs to score for Tomahawk when Waydick’s throw couldn’t be handled by Johnson and the ball went into left field. 

There was confusion on the basepath for the Hatchets as Olsen hit a single to right field. Seslar rounded third to score and then abruptly stopped while Dickens continued his way to third. Waydick caught the throw from the outfield and was in a run down with Seslar on the basepath. He threw to Johnson, and the error turned the tables in favor of Tomahawk as Seslar and Dickens were able to score. Olsen, now the game-tying run, stood at third after the conclusion of the chaos. He tagged on a sacrifice fly by Horabick to complete the three-run Hatchet comeback in the seventh. 

Seslar and Dickens both forced a walk to reach the basepath prior to Olsen’s hit. Seslar was walked by White, and Dickens by Wiczek who came in for White to face the top of Tomahawk’s order in the seventh and finish the game. 

“(Rowan) did walk the first guy, but then, you have the unfortunate play of the rundown where, again, we just lose the feeling of the ball, the ball ends up in the left field corner, two runs score, and the tying run’s at third,” Waksmonski explained. “Kind of a lot of things happened at once there. But for the most part, I was proud of Rowan.”

Prior to White and Wiczek, Johnson pitched five innings, allowing one run on two hits, walking two and striking out seven. 

“Charlie threw a great game,” Waksmonski said. “He’s not one that’s going to overpower anyone with his fastball, so he’s got to keep hitters off balance with his curveball. He’s got a really nice curveball. He got a lot of swings and misses with it tonight, and did a really nice job with that particular pitch.”

Johnson’s five innings were some of the cleanest of the game for either team, as the final inning brought more chaos from both dugouts. 

Still tied at 4, a pop fly from Waydick brought an almost mirror image of the double play that concluded the fourth. This time however, Tomahawk third baseman couldn’t quite squeeze it and the ball popped out of his glove and into fair territory. Olsen, pitching for the Hatchets since the fifth, picked up the loose ball and threw it to second to try to catch Gretzinger who was safely back toward first this time. His throw went sailing into center field and Gretzinger ran to third before Tomahawk could get it in. 

Waydick then scrambled to second on a passed ball, and left an opportunity on the bat of Wiczek. A shallow fly ball by Wiczek let Gretzinger sprint home to put the Hodags up 5-4. Rappley stretched the lead with a single that scored Waydick before Sawyer Bishop struck out to end the Hodag ninth with a 6-4 lead. 

Another error by the Hodags had the Rhinelander faithful holding thier breath, but the threat was eliminated with another throw to third by Waydick caught Dickens stealing. 

A pair of strikeouts from Wiczek sealed the deal and concluded the first half of GNC play for the Hodags. 

The Hodags traveled to Wausau East on Monday after the conclusion of press time for this edition, and are on the road tonight to face the Red Robins at Kretz Park in Antigo. Results for both games will be in the Friday edition of River News.

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