Monsters walk off Rangers in dreary home opener

The Rhinelander River Monsters closed out their 2025 home slate with some walk-off magic and began their 2026 home campaign in a very similar fashion on Sunday.

Caden Palubicki smacked a two-out single to right in the ninth inning, plating two runs as the Monsters rallied to defeat the Merrill Rangers 6-5 in Dairyland League play at Stafford Field.

The Monsters (1-1) trailed 5-3 going into the ninth on a cold, dreary, misty day at the diamond, but found a way to get it done at the end of the game.

“Games like this, you’re both just clawing. Especially in a men’s league situation, it’s just hard to be out in weather like this, but we say it in high school you know, it’s baseball. You gotta win these too, you know? So to win in these conditions is always a plus,” River Monsters bench coach Andy Van Dyke said. 

Martin Hoger led off the last-inning rally with a double to the gap in right center, moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on a sacrifice fly by Josh Randolph. Merrill closer Isaak Clapper ran into command issues, walking Jacob Dreifuerst to put the tying run aboard, and plunking Max Kortenhoff to get the winning run on base before allowing both to get into scoring position on a passed ball. 

After a Luke Linsmeyer strikeout, Palubicki lined a 2-1 offering to right to score Dreifuerst and Kortenhoff for the win. 

Despite cold, damp conditions that made life difficult on pitchers and the defense, neither team capitalized on many scoring chances. The Rangers stranded 15 base runners, scoring three runs in the fifth and two more in the seventh. The Monsters left 14 on base, matched Merrill’s three-spot in the fifth and didn’t score again until the last-inning heroics. 

The Monsters pounded out 14 hits in the contest, including three each from Palubicki, Ben Quade and Hoger. Hoger got the Monsters on the board with a two-out RBI single in the fifth and, after Randolph drew a walk, Dreifuerst tied the game on a double down the left field line. 

Rhinelander pitchers walked a tight rope much of the game. Starter Lucas O’Brien faced runners in scoring position with less than two outs in the second, third and fourth innings, but came out unscathed every time. That included a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the third that ended when Hoger snagged a line drive in right off the bat of Connor Cortright and then threw to first to complete a double play. 

O’Brien couldn’t wiggle off the hook in the fifth, however. After back-to-back two out walks, he was relieved by Nick Bolte, who allowed an RBI single to Cortright, a run-scoring infield hit to Jayden Sus and then threw a wild pitch that allowed Cortright to score and make it a 3-0 game. 

Hoger worked the last three innings in relief and got the win, despite a rocky start to his time on the mound. One strike away from getting out of the seventh inning, he threw a wild pitch that allowed Brayden Pieper to score. Shawn Schultz eventually worked a 10-pitch walk in that at bat. Landon Parlier singled, Clapper walked and Reimann have Merrill a 5-3 lead on an RBI single past short. 

Though Rhinelander’s pitching staff struck out 11 Merrill batters they issued 13 walks.

“All of them just said the ball feels like it weighs 6 pounds, you know? I don’t know how many balls we threw in and out of the dugout to try and get them cleaned. It’s just one of those days,” Van Dyke said. “If you’re walking guys, you’re probably not going to win many games. So as they move forward throughout the season they got to dial in the strike zone and throw strikes. It’s just what you need to do.”

Schultz, head coach for Merrill’s high school baseball program, worked seven innings for the Rangers. While he gave up 12 hits, he limited the damage thanks to two walks and six strikeouts. 

“When Shawn left, ironically, and they brought him the faster guy, that seemed to benefit us a little bit,” Van Dyke said. “For Shawn, who’s gotta be (in his) mid 50s to come out and throw 110 pitches, credit to him. And he had us off balance all game. His off-speed stuff is so good that he’s just a he’s a solid baseball player.”

Sam Schneider added two hits for Rhinelander and made two diving catches in center field that helped snuff out Merrill rallies in the second and the sixth. 

Sunday marked Rhinelander’s second straight home walk-off win. The Monsters scored four times in the ninth inning to defeat Whittlesey 10-9 in last year’s regular season finale, a win that helped the Monsters secure a spot in the WBA playoffs. 

The game also kicked off a seven-game homestand for Rhinelander, which is back in action Saturday as it hosts Wisconsin Rapids in a doubleheader at Stafford Field. The teams will play two seven-inning games starting at noon.

“It’s a good baseball team, and their college kids are back, from what I understand, most of them are back,” Van Dyke said. “You’re gonna have to throw strikes. We can hit. Obviously we can hit. So, um, they’re just going to have to battle and take it to them.” 

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].