RHS faces GBSW in D1 tourney opener

STAR JOURNAL REPORT

The Rhinelander High School varsity boys baseball team closed out its regular-season schedule late last week by winning a pair of non-conference games at home.

On Thursday, the Hodags defeated Merrill, 10-4.

Matt Rudolph pitched the first six innings for RHS and recorded the victory, allowing an unearned run on three hits with three walks while striking out three. Bluejays starting pitcher Zach Anderson took the loss after two innings of work, giving up four earned runs out of the six scored on seven hits with a walk while striking out two.

Of RHS’s 10 hits, Brad Comer had three of them with a triple and a double while Brad Quade added two hits with a double and Cole Spaulding also recorded two hits. The team’s other extra-base hit came from Tyler Blomdahl, who doubled in the second inning to drive in three runs.

The Hodags had limited Merrill to a single run until the top of the seventh when Kordell Renken doubled with the bases loaded to drive in three runs off of RHS reliever Tait Spencer.

HODAGS 5, ASHLAND 4

Friday’s regular-season finale at Stafford Field see-sawed back and forth before a walk-off single by Alec Modrow in the bottom of the seventh gave RHS a 5-4 victory over Ashland.

The Hodags’ Jacob DeMeyer pitched the final two innings and recorded the victory, allowing an earned run out of two scored on four hits while striking out one. Jake Erickson came in to pitch the seventh inning for the Oredockers and took the loss after giving up an earned run on two hits.

RHS, which took a 1-0 lead after two innings before giving up two runs in the top of the fourth, regain the lead in the bottom of the fifth with three runs on four consecutive hits that included a single by DeMeyer, RBI doubles by Comer and Quade and an RBI single by Blomdahl.

Ashland tied the game with two runs in the sixth inning, before the Hodags sent three batters to the plate in the bottom of the seventh with a single by Blomdahl, a walk by Spaulding and the walk-off single by Modrow.

RHS, which ended the season 16-5 overall and 9-3 in the Great Northern Conference, opens WIAA Division 1 Tournament play at 5 p.m. Tuesday as the No. 6 seed in its sectional and hosts No. 11-seeded Green Bay Southwest. The winner plays Thursday at No. 3-seeded De Pere.

Thursday’s game

Hodags 10, Merrill 4

Merrill      1-0-0 0-0-0 3 –   4   4 4

Hodags     2-4-0 2-2-0 X – 10 10 1

WP–Matt Rudolph; LP–Zach Anderson

Friday’s game

Hodags 5, Ashland 4

Ashland      0-0-0 2-0-2 0 – 4 9 2

Hodags       0-1-0 0-3-0 1 – 5 9 3

WP–Jacob DeMeyer; LP–Jake Erickson