Last Updated: Wednesday, May 9, 2007 4:24 PM CDT
Winning with heavy hearts
by Greg Bates - Daily News Sports Editor
Antigo beats RHS after death of a classmate
Playing with heavy hearts on Tuesday against Rhinelander, the Antigo baseball team was playing for a reason other than to win a Wisconsin Valley Conference game.
The Red Robin players were thinking about the loss of their classmate, senior Steven McNeil, who was killed in a one-car accident early Saturday morning, and wanted to win the game for him.
“I think [the players] are all kind of a little numb yet,” Antigo head coach Bill Greening said. “They were all classmates, they were all friends and when you come from a small school everybody knows everybody real well. It's a tough loss.”
Said Rhinelander head coach Joe Waksmonski, “They are competitiors and I'm sure they wanted to play for their fallen student. They got a nice win in remembrance of him.”
Antigo (4-7 overall and 4-6 in the Valley) used a strong pitching performance from Nic Tatro and a four-run sixth inning to earn a come-from-behind 6-5 victory over the Hodags.
After taking a 5-2 lead after five innings, Rhinelander wasn't able to hang onto the lead.
“It was just one of those situations where once again we just couldn't finish,” Waksmonski said. “We kind of ran out of gas there pitching-wise. Offensively, they are taking too many pitches -- swinging at bad pitches and taking the good ones, and it just seems like we are not mentally ready at the plate and not confident.”
The Hodags (2-9 overall and 1-8 in the Valley) could only get four hits on the day, while the Red Robins pounded out nine.
Antigo scored the first two runs of the game in the second inning after an infield single, followed by a double and then two RBI ground outs.
Rhinelander struggled early, as six of the players struck out the first time through the order. In the fourth, the Hodags got a hit from Jake Bognar, a bunt single from Brady Hauser and Chet White was hit by a pitch to load the bases with no one out. Jacob Schmidt -- who came into the game with a grand slam earlier in the season and leading the Valley in RBI with 15 -- got a hold of a pitch and blasted it over the centerfield fence.
“Jacob's the one guy on the team right now that you can tell when he's up at the plate he's got the confidence and no fear attitude about him,” Waksmonski said. “He may ground out or pop up, but you can always tell he's putting the best swing on the ball, where other guys you're not sure if they're putting their best swing.”
The Hodags added a run in the fifth before the Red Robins exploded for four runs on five hits in the top of the sixth to go up 6-5. Mack Lane, who went the first 5 1/3 innings for the Hodags, started to wear down and gave way to Jordan Schmidt.
“[Mack's] lack of hitting his spots finally caught up to him and they were tagging some balls there at the end,” said Waksmonski.
Rhinelander had a chance to tie the game in the bottom of the sixth with Jacob Schmidt on third base with one out, but he was stranded.
Tatro went the distance for Antigo, striking out 11 hitters. Tatro pitched against the Hodags when the two teams met on April 17 and he walked 10 batters and struggled with his command, noted Greening.
“The thing that's most frustrating is that it was the same pitcher we faced last time and it was the same stuff,” said Waksmonski, whose team travels to Merrill Thursday for a 4:30 p.m. game. “We knew every pitch and what was coming, and we just couldn't do anything about it. As a coach, that's the most frustrating is seeing our guys not making the adjustments needed to be successful.”
| Tell us what you think... |
| Comments » |
The
comments above are from readers. In no way do they represent the views of the Rhinelander Daily News. |
|
| Post a comment
(150 word limit) » |
| We will not post reader comments containing
racial, religious or personal attacks, slander,
profanity, e-mail addresses, mailing addresses,
phone numbers or Web site addresses that are
for personal or promotional gain. |
|
|
| Thank you for your comments! Once your comments
are approved, they will appear on the site. |
|
|
|
Hodags starting pitcher Mack Lane pitched five strong innings before running into trouble in the sixth. With a 5-2 lead, Rhinelander surrendered four runs to Antigo in the sixth and the Red Robins hung on for a victory.
(Greg Bates - Daily News)
|
feed
Comments
