STAR JOURNAL REPORT

The Rhinelander Rebels could only generate two hits Wednesday when they lost their American Legion baseball AA Regional Tournament opener at Merrill in five innings to Antigo, 11-1.

The Rebels fell behind 3-0 in the first inning when starting pitcher Jacob DeMeyer gave up RBI singles to Antigo’s A.J. Kirsch, Jed Weix and Nick Greening.

Rhinelander scored its only run in the top of the fourth when Tyler Blomdahl opened the inning by being hit by a pitch, stealing second base and then reaching home on a single by Brad Quade.

The Rebels’ two-run deficit ballooned into 10 runs in the bottom of the fourth when Antigo sent 12 batters to the plate and scored eight times on five hits that included a 2-RBI double and another single by Matt Winter, a 2-RBI single by Kirsch, an RBI single by Ryan Brauer and a single by Greening.

DeMeyer pitched the first 3 1/3 innings and took the loss, giving up seven earned runs on six hits with four walks and two hits batters while striking out three. Nick Spencer relieved DeMeyer and finished the final two-thirds of an inning, allowing four earned runs on four hits with a walk.

Antigo’s Alex Nagel pitched all five innings to pick up the victory, giving up an earned run on two hits with three walks and a hit batter while striking out two.

The loss dropped Rhinelander into the losers’ bracket of the four-team, double-elimination tournament to play Thursday against Northwoods, which lost its regional opener Wednesday to Merrill, 6-1.

Antigo 11, Rebels 1

Rebels  0-0-0 1-0 –   1   2 1

Antigo  3-0-0 8-X – 11 10 0

WP–Alex Nagel; LP–Jacob DeMeyer