The Rhinelander High School baseball season came to an abrupt end Monday, June 1 at Stafford Field, as the ninth-seeded Bloomer Hawks knocked off the top-seeded Hodags 5-4 in the WIAA regional semifinal.
Bloomer struck first, capitalizing on an early Rhinelander miscue. Starting pitcher Conner Rappley walked the leadoff batter of the game, and a subsequent error allowed the runner to advance and eventually score, putting the Hawks on the board before the Hodags had recorded an out.
Rhinelander showed resilience throughout, placing a runner on base to lead off every inning of the contest. But the Hodags’ most damaging stretch came in the fourth, when Bloomer pushed across four runs to build a 5-2 advantage. With the Hawks holding that lead, Rhinelander loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the frame — a golden opportunity that went unrealized as the Hodags were unable to bring a run home, leaving all three runners stranded.
Rhinelander chipped away in the late innings, scoring single runs in both the sixth and seventh frames to close the deficit to one. But with the tying and winning runs available, the Hodags could not deliver the decisive blow, and the season ended with the 5-4 defeat.
It was a difficult finish for a Rhinelander squad that had otherwise dominated the 2025 campaign. The Hodags closed out the year with a 16-3 record and a conference championship.
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