By Jeremy Mayo
WAUSAU – Wausau Post 10 blew fairly competitive games open with big innings in both ends of a Legion Doubleheader with Rhinelander on Wednesday night, earning the sweep 12-3 and 13-4.
Rhinelander trailed 4-3 going into the bottom of the fourth in game one, before allowing five runs. Seven runs game across in the top of the sixth in game two to put what was a 4-2 contest out of reach.
“One big inning in every game so far that we’ve lost,” said a disappoint Rebels coach Josh McGeshick afterward. “We’ve hardly loss a close game because there has been one inning that has killed us.”
A side effect from the big inning has been the lack of offensive production afterward. Rhinelander had just one hit after Wausau’s big inning in game one. The Rebels did respond with a couple of runs in the bottom of the six in game two, but failed to produce any more.
“I though we had a good chance in the second game,” McGeshick added. “Ben Prom had five good innings. Then the big inning happened and we fell apart after that. It was tough to watch being so close so late in the game, but they hit the ball hard on us. When you keep the ball up, that’s what’s going to happen to you.”
Despite allowing nine hits, Prom held the damage to four runs and kept Rhinelander in the contest. Jamie Robinson took over in the sixth, but gave up hits to five of the first six batters he faced and was quickly chased out of the game. Dan Kellen finished up the inning, but had three wild pitches.
In all, seven runs came across as Rhinelander’s hope for a split went away.
In the first game, the hammer fell hard on Tyler Henkel again. Unlike his last two starts, he was able to get out of the second inning without major damage. This time the bottom dropped out in the fourth, when he allowed five straight hits to lead off the inning.
The loss was the third straight for Henkel. His ERA is 17.64 in those three games, and he has failed to make it out of the fourth inning in each of those contests.
Henkel did continue to show that his form is returning offensively, with two hits in game one and a 1-for-3 performance in game two. Jamie Robinson doubled in each game and Ben Prom had a nice second game in the nine spot, going 2-for-3.
“He’s a young pitcher and he’s developing,” McGeshick added about Prom. “It’s nice to see. (And) it’s nice to see that he came around in (offensively) game two. He saw the ball well that second game.”
Overall, the Rebels had 13 hits in the two games, while striking out 19 times. It was particularly frustrating against game two pitcher Adam Kramer, who had thrown 36 strikes in his first 50 pitches.
“We had two runs in the second and two in the sixth, but he was throwing (strikes),” McGeshick. “Our guys, they’ve seen pitching like this before, but they struggled on seeing it in the right spot and swinging on a good pitch.”
Jordan Schmidt struck out three times alone against Kramer. He only had one hit in eight trips to the plate after missing three games.
Rhinelander has now dropped nine of its last ten games. The Rebels return to action on Monday at RSW looking for the season sweep. To be competitive in the rematch, McGeshick says there is one thing that his team desperately needs to work on between now and then.
“Hitting. We’ve got to get into the cage and get a lot of cuts in. Our fielding has been pretty good, but we need to get back in the cage and start seeing the ball well and hitting the ball well.”
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BOX SCORE: Rhinelander at Wausau (Game 1) – Wednesday, July 2, 2008
RHI 111 000 0 – 3 6 4
WAU 220 503 x – 12 12 2
Rhinelander
22 Jordan Schmidt SS… 1-4, 2B, RBI, K
3 Dan Kellen CF… 0-3, R, BB, K
2 Tyler Henkel P/RF… 2-4, R
27 Sam Huebner 1B… 1-4, RBI
24 Jamie Robinson C… 2-4, 2B, K
21 Brian Bessa 2B… 0-3, RBI, 2 K
- 16 John Nehls 2B… 0-0
15 Jesse Robinson RF/P… 0-3, 2 K
4 Ben Prom… 0-1, HBP, K
- 12 Nathan Schmidt LF… 0-1
5 Alex Henkel 3B… 0-0, R, BB, SAB
- 34 Billy Michlig 3B… 0-1, K
Runners Left on Base: 8
2 Tyler Henkel (L, 2-3)… 3+ IP, 9 R, 8 ER, 9 H, 2 K, 2 BB
15 Jesse Robinson… 3 IP, 3 R, 0 ER, 3 H, 0 K, 0 BB, HB
Wausau
1 Seth McMullen SS… 2-3, 2 RBI, 3 R, HBP, 3 SB
21 Mike Parman CF… 3-4, 2B, 3 RBI, 2 R, SB
2 Don Hagedorn C… 1-3, RBI, 2 R, BB
19 Brock McMullen 1B… 2-4, HR, 3 RBI, R
5 Preston Jehn P… 1-4, RBI
- 12 Brett Falkowski CR… 0-0
9 Mitch Howe 3B… 0-3, K
- 3 Trevor Barton PH… 0-1
10 Dan Genrich LF… 1-3, 2B, R, K
14 Jacob Wittman 2B… 1-3, RBI, R
13 Luke Gajewski RF… 1-2, 2 R, SB, BB
Runners Left on Base: 3
5 Preston Jehn (W)… 7 IP, 3 R, 3 ER, 6 H, 9 K, 2 BB, HB, 2 WP
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BOX SCORE: Rhinelander at Wausau (Game 2) – Wednesday, July 2, 2008
WAU 110 207 2 – 13 18 2
RHI 020 002 0 – 4 7 1
Rhinelander
22 Jordan Schmidt 2B/P… 0-4, 3K
3 Dan Kellen CF… 1-3, R, K
- 16 John Nehls PH… 0-0, BB
2 Tyler Henkel SS… 1-3, R, K, SB
- 13 Andrew Toms PH… 0-1, K
27 Sam Huebner 1B… 0-1, R, 2 HBP, K
24 Jamie Robinson 3B/P… 1-2, 2B, R
- 12 Nathan Schmidt CF… 0-1, RBI
21 Brian Bessa C… 0-2, 2 K
- 5 Alex Henkel C… 1-1
15 Jesse Robinson RF… 0-3, R
10 Eric Toms LF…1-2, RBI
- 34 Billy Michlig LF… 0-1
4 Ben Prom P/3B… 2-3
Runners Left on Base: 5
4 Ben Prom (L, 0-2)… 5 IP, 4 R, 4 ER, 9 H, 2 K, 0 BB, HB
24 Jamie Robinson… 0.1 IP, 5 R, 5 ER, 5 H, 0 K, 0 BB
3 Dan Kellen… 0.2 IP, 2 R, ER, 2 H, K, 0 BB, 3 WP
22 Jordan Schmidt… IP, 2 R, 0 ER, 2 H, 0 K, BB, WP
Wausau
1 Seth McMullen SS… 3-5, 2-2B, 2 RBI, 2 R
21 Mike Parman CF… 1-3, 3B, 2 RBI, R, SAC
- 5 Preston Jehn PH… 0-1, RBI
2 Don Hagedorn DH… 2-4, 2B, RBI, R
- 18 Adam Kramer P… 0-0
-- 10 Dan Genrich PH… 0-0, RBI, SAC
19 Brock McMullen 1B… 3-3, 2B, R, HBP
- 13 Luke Gajewski PH… 1-1
9 Mitch Howe 3B… 1-4, K
- 3 Trevor Barton PH… 0-1, RBI, R
4 Jared Kramer C… 1-4, K
11 Joe Line LF… 3-4, 2B, 3 R, SB, K
12 Brett Falkowski RF… 2-4, 3B, 2 RBI, 2 R, SB
15 Tyler Schaefer 2B… 1-2, 2 R, 2 RBI, SAC, SB
Runners Left on Base: 6
18 Adam Kramer (W)… 7 IP, 4 R, 4 ER, 7 H, 10 K, BB, 2 HB
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Rhinelander (4-9, 2-7 WVLL) at RSW, 7/7 (HodagSports.com)
Wausau (7-7, 4-2 WVLL) vs. Beaver Dam (at Stevens Point), 7/3
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