Two years after advancing to the title game at the 10-and-under state tournament, the Rhinelander Little League All-Star Team is headed back to state. The Rhinelander 12U team is set to take on three teams from southern Wisconsin starting on Thursday, July 24 in West Bend.
The other teams in the pool are Kenosha American, Madison Kennedy and Whitefish Bay.
According to the tournament website, Rhinelander is set to face Kenosha American at 8 p.m. Thursday to start pool play. They will take on Madison Kennedy 24 hours later at 8 p.m. July 25 and then face Whitefish Bay at 3 p.m. Saturday. The championship game is set for 2 p.m. Sunday, July 27.
Many of the players had the benefit of playing under longtime local youth baseball coach Dan Bauer, who led that 10U squad to a state runner-up finish two years ago. The Rhinelander Little League program, and the community at large, suffered a devastating blow when Bauer, who also served as assistant chief of the Rhinelander Fire Department, died of a heart attack in November.
Bauer’s son, Eli, played a major role in securing the 12U squad’s spot in West Bend. He scored a run in the fifth inning in the July 15 District 5 final against Wausau American, tying the game, and threw a complete game (in 77 pitches), giving up only one earned run and three hits in the process.
Neither squad could produce a run through four innings, as Bauer and Wausau American ace Max Johnson dueled on the mound.
Wausau broke the drought in the top of the fifth, forcing the Hodags into comeback mode. Bauer scored the equalizer in the bottom of the 5th and then the Hodag batters dug in. Wausau had to go to their bullpen after Johnson hit the maximum pitch count and three walks loaded the bases for Easton Sieker.
Sieker battled his way to a full count and eventually earned a walk of his own to score the go-ahead run. The Hodags added one more to take a 3-1 lead into the sixth inning. Then the defense took over with infield plays securing the first two outs. Bauer took care of the final batter with a strikeout to earn the District 5 title and a state berth.
The roster includes Blake Sundby, Kolt Taylor, Griffin Rady, Jaxon Eades, Rylan Pasanen, Cooper Clark, Jeter Vander Galien, Mason Paulson. Will Sundby, Nick Schneider, Sieker and Bauer.
The coaches are Josh Clark and Kevin Eades.
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