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In this increasing world of hustle and bustle, even for students, it is refreshing to know that there are still kids with down-home mentalities and lifestyles, and that description seems to fit brothers Jamie and Jesse Robinson, of McNaughton, quite well.

Jamie, an outgoing senior at Rhinelander High School, and Jesse, who will be a senior at RHS this fall, both played prominent roles on Hodags baseball team in the spring and are currently members of the Rhinelander Rebel American Legion club.

Jamie’s statistics in both Wisconsin Valley Conference (WVC) and Legion ball are impressive.

For all Rebel players who have played more than one game through the Wisconsin Rapids doubleheader last Thursday, Jamie is the leading hitter with a .429 batting average with the next closest Rebel being Sam Huebner at .348. Jamie also leads the team in doubles with four.

“I didn’t even know that,” Jamie said with a surprised look. “Now I can finally rib the other guys about something.”

As a Hodag this past spring, where Jamie logged most of the catching duties throughout the season, he was second on the team in hitting at .293 behind only Tyler Henkel’s .460 average. And despite being only sixth in plate appearances (47) for RHS, he was third in hits with 12 and was second in RBI with 12.

As for Jesse, he is tied with Huebner for the Rebel RBI lead this summer with a total of seven. Jesse is also developing into a decent pitcher as he led the Hodags this season with a 7.00 earned run average in WVC action. Pitching is an area that Jesse wants to concentrate on between now and next season.

“Offensively, I know I need to cut down on my strikeouts and get some work in the cage, but I’d really like to get out on the mound more next year,” Jesse said. “I can get confident out there, and if I improve, I can really help us next year.”

The Robinsons played a key role in snapping the Rebels six-game losing streak last Thursday night in a game versus Wisconsin Rapids. Jamie hit a key double to help Rhinelander rally for the go ahead runs in the sixth inning. Then in the seventh, Jesse may have found himself a the saver’s role as he seemed to relish the pressure of a close game and came in to retire the meat of the Rapids order to save the 2-1 victory for Dan Kellen.

“That was a pleasant surprise,” Rebel head coach Josh McGeshick said. “I mean, if you can handle that kind of pressure in a tight-knit game like that, that’s potentially a big-plus for us. We had an error in there, but it didn‘t rattle Jesse at all.”

When Hodag head baseball coach Joe Waksmonski heard about Jesse’s save he wasn’t surprised.

“He’s not a rah-rah type of guy who won’t wear his emotions on his sleeve, but, instead, pays attention to the task at hand,” Waksmonski said. “He’s got a lot of inner drive for a young man. He won’t blow the ball by you, but he’ll make you work for your hits.”

In a game back on May 9 at Northland Pines, Jesse put on a dominating display of pitching versus the Eagles as he pitched a complete game three-hitter in setting the tone for a 10-1 Hodags victory.

“That was a non-conference game, and back then I found my spots a little bit more,” Jesse said. “Now I’m working a little bit more velocity, which makes it harder to find the (strike) zone. That’ll just give me something to work on, though. I‘m confident I‘ll be able to get better at that.”

Although catching might be the most thankless job on the diamond, Jamie seems as though he would rather play nowhere else.

“When I’m catching, I’m in on every pitch, I call the game for whoever is pitching and I can see the whole field,” Jamie said. “Sometimes there isn’t much credit given for the amount of work, but I don’t mind.”

Coach Waksmonski notes that Jamie is highly competitive and frequently urges his teammates to strive for their competitive best.

“Jamie is an intense individual,” Waksmonski said. “He’ll tell it like it is, and that’s being a vocal leader for any team that he plays on. I know that I liked him on my teams because he not only performed on a consistently high level but was outgoing with the guys, too.”

Jamie was the only outgoing senior on the Hodag squad to make a go of it with the Rebels this summer and that shows his love for the game.

“In a nutshell, that’s Jamie,” Waksmonski said. “If I were to guess who the only graduating senior would be to play this summer, I would have guessed Jamie. He loves the game.”

Naturally, brothers do disagree on some things and the Robinsons are no different. During the recent Rebel losing streak, each of them had a different take on the main cause of the team’s losing ways.

“I would say it has been the pitching,” Jamie said. “The staff hasn’t been as crisp as they were at the beginning of the season. But we’ve been catching teams lately when they’ve been on a roll. Luck does play a small part in that.”

Jesse thinks the Rebels’ woes have been offensive in nature.

“I wouldn’t say pitching so much,” Jesse said. “I don’t know, I’ve been on the mound a lot, it just looks like to me that the opposing batters are very disciplined at the plate, which is something we’ve got to work on. I’ll be the first to admit, I need as much work in that way as anyone. We need to get our butts in the (batting) cage as much as we can, even if it is at nine o‘ clock in the morning.”

When Jesse and Jamie are battery mates (pitcher and catcher), the two would seem to have an advantage.

“I think there is something to that,” Jamie said. “We’ve been playing since we’ve been little, and now when he’s (Jesse) on the mound, I can mostly tell what he’s going to do. But it’s easier said than done. It happened more in high school, though, than it has for this team (the Rebels).”

Away from the field

Off the diamond, according to the Robinson’s older brother Jeff, you couldn’t ask for better siblings.

“Not only do they love sports, but they’re fantastic kids around the house,” Jeff said. “You don’t even have to ask them to help out with anything, they just chip in on their own. They do well in school and they stay out of trouble, you couldn’t ask for much more.”

The boys’ mother, Laura, has recently been challenged health-wise and Jamie and Jesse are there anytime she needs them.

“Unfortunately, I’m dealing with cancer now, and I’m now undergoing my second round of chemotherapy and it is grueling,” Mrs. Robinson said. “But I will say that those boys have been magnificent for me. You can see how they handle themselves out and about, but what people don’t see sometimes is the caring side of them at home. It’s just been great.”

Currently, Jamie is an employee at Slumberland, and his tentative higher education plans include a stint at Nicolet Area Technical College.

“Yeah, I have an interest in real estate, and I think I’ll try that and see where it leads,” Jamie said.

As for Jesse, he’ll be a senior at RHS this fall and wants to become a three-sport athlete.

“Besides baseball and basketball, I need to add a fall sport, so I might go with soccer or cross country,” Jesse said. “Academically, I should get a little bit more serious, more towards that 3.0 GPA.”

Somehow one gets the feeling that no matter what the Robinson’s decide to do, it will turn out one way or another.

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Comments »

Tim Thorsen wrote on Jul 1, 2008 11:35 AM:

" Thanks for the positive article on a couple of great kids who need the encouragement! Too often we only hear or see the opposite in the media. Keep up the positive stories as 20:1 may balance out the other stories. "

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