Borchardt, Jackson unanimous picks; 4 more Redmen get awards

ALL-MARAWOOD NORTH BASEBALL

The 2023 baseball season ended a little sooner than the Rib Lake Redmen anticipated, but they look forward to 2024 knowing they should have one of the strongest foundations to build from of any team in the Marawood Conference’s North Division.

Six of Rib Lake’s starters earned awards in the voting for the 2023 All-Marawood North teams, with two landing at each level. Five of those players are expected back next year, including three junior leaders and two freshmen who should fill major roles for the team in the years to come.

Senior Michael Borchardt was unanimously voted to the All-North squad for the second straight spring and he’s joined by junior teammate Jackson Blomberg, who moves up after earning second-team honors in 2022. Borchardt was a second-team pick as a sophomore and Blomberg got honorable mention as a freshman that year. The two were Rib Lake’s co-captains this season.

Blomberg’s performance allowed him to take things one step further in the awards process as he earned honorable mention for the All-North Central District as a utility player.

Borchardt was one of 20 players to earn All-District All-Academic honors, a distinction that players were eligible for by being a junior or senior carrying a grade point average of 3.8 or higher.

Freshmen Ethan Cook and Talon Scheithauer are Rib Lake’s second-team award winners this spring after solid debut seasons at the varsity level, while juniors Andrew Wudi and Dominic Quednow earned honorable mention from the league’s coaches. Wudi was mentioned for the second straight spring.

The awards follow a 10-8 season under head coach Dick Iverson. The Redmen went 6-4 in North play to tie Phillips for second in the six-team conference behind 10-0 Abbotsford-Colby.

As the second seed in its Division 4 sectional half-bracket, Rib Lake was upset 12-4 by seventh-seeded Glenwood City in the regional semifinal round of the WIAA tournament.

Borchardt and Blomberg were Rib Lake’s top two pitchers and typically caught for each other.

Borchardt hit .339 overall out of the fourth spot in the batting order with five doubles, two triples and 16 runs batted in. He hit .364 in 10 Marawood North games where he got 12 of his RBIs, both of his triples and three of his doubles. He scored 14 runs, nine in North play.

Among Borchardt’s offensive highlights for the season, he was four for four with two doubles and six RBIs in a 23-0 win over Prentice on April 27, was two for two at conference champion Abbotsford-Colby on May 4 and hit a big two-run double in a 5-4 win at Athens on April 24 On the mound, Borchardt was 3-1 overall and 2-1 in the conference, working around eight walks in 5.1 innings in a 13-3 win over Chequamegon in the league opener on April 10 by getting seven strikeouts and allowing just four hits. He went four innings in a 4-3 win over Phillips on May 8, striking out four.

Blomberg hit .370 overall and drove in 20 runs during the season. The switch hitter hit two home runs, drew nine walks and hit three triples and two doubles. He stole a team-high 23 bases as well. Blomberg drove in 15 of his runs and hit his triples in conference play, where he posted a .345 batting average.

Blomberg was 1-4 overall in pitching, including a 1-2 mark in league play with 20 strikeouts and 22 hits allowed in 22.2 innings. He had a 4.32 ERA in North play, including a three-inning save in the 4-3 win over Phillips with five strikeouts and just one hit allowed.

He was four for six with five runs scored during Rib Lake’s doubleheader sweep of Prentice on April 27. He had two triples and drove in six runs in the 11-1 win in game two. He was one for three with a couple of RBIs in the 7-2 loss at Abbotsford-Colby on May 4. He was two for two, scored three times, homered and drove in two runs in a 10-0 non-conference win over Owen-Withee on May 25 and homered in an 8-7 non-conference win over Edgar on May 16.

Clearly the dominant team in the North, Abbotsford-Colby put five players on the first team, filling half the squad. Senior Brandon Diedrich and juniors JV Castillo and Evan Reis were unanimous picks. Diedrich is this year’s Marawood North Player of the Year, pulling the award away from last year’s winner, Castillo. Senior Mateo Lopez and junior catcher Blake Bargender are Abbotsford-Colby’s other first-teamers. Their cohead coaches, Ryan Bargender and Brett Nelson, received the Coach of the Year award.

Senior Kyler Ellenbecker of Athens and juniors Drew Hauschild of Phillips and Nolan Niehoff of Chequamegon round out the 2023 first team.

Scheithauer and Cook got their varsity baseball careers off to solid starts.

Scheithauer was the leadoff hitter in Rib Lake’s batting order and the team’s primary shortstop. He also got a few pitching appearances in as well.

In conference play, Scheithauer hit .361 with five doubles and seven runs driven in. He stole seven bases against league foes and scored 13 runs. Overall, he finished at .349 in batting average with five doubles, 13 RBIs and 16 runs scored.

Scheithauer had a 2-1 league pitching record with seven strikeouts, four walks and 18 hits and six earned runs allowed in 10.1 innings. Overall, he was 3-1.

He had six multi-hit games during the season, including a three-for-three game with two doubles, three runs scored and two driven in during the first game in the Prentice doubleheader. He went two for four in game two and scored twice while adding a double. He was two for four with two runs scored in a 14-4 win at Athens on April 28, two for three in the 4-3 win over Phillips and was two for five in the conference opener with Chequamegon.

Scheithauer was the winning pitcher in relief in the 5-4 win at Athens April 24 and earned wins over Prentice and Owen- Withee. He struck out seven batters in four innings in the Owen-Withee win.

Cook was the team’s primary second baseman, but could see more time at catcher in the future. He gave Rib Lake another solid hitter in the middle of the lineup by hitting .339 overall and .400 (12 for 30) against North rivals. He drove in 15 runs during the spring, including 11 in conference play, scored 10 runs and drew nine walks.

Cook was a combined five for six in the doubleheader with Chequamegon, which was played in Wisconsin Rapids. He scored three runs in the split with the Screaming Eagles, drove in four runs and walked twice. He was three for four in the 13-3 game-one win.

Cook was two for four in the 14-4 win over Athens with a pair of RBIs and had the same line in the 4-3 win over Phillips. He was two for four with two RBIs in game one against Prentice.

Wudi gave Rib Lake solid defense, primarily at third base, and good offensive production from the number-two spot in Rib Lake’s batting order. He hit .245 overall and his Marawood North batting average was .267 (eight for 30). Eight of his stolen bases, seven of his walks and seven of his runs came in league play. He pitched in three North games, picking up a win in the team’s 11-1 victory over Prentice. He struck out six in that game and allowed three hits and no walks in four innings. Overall, he was 2-1, adding a win by getting the final out in Rib Lake’s walk-off win over Edgar. He had a 1.83 earned run average in seven pitching appearances that covered 7.2 innings.

Wudi had four multi-hit games during the spring. He was two for five with two runs scored and an RBI in the 13-3 win over Chequamegon, was two for three with three runs scored and two RBIs in the 23-0 win over Prentice and two for three with a double, a walk, a run and an RBI in the 14-4 win over Athens. He was two for four in a 5-1 Marawood crossover win over Newman Catholic on May 22.

Quednow strongly held down the centerfield position for the Redmen, came up with some key hits and added a little pitching this season. He had a .255 overall batting average, scored 12 runs, drove in six, hit two doubles and stole four bases. He got one pitching victory with three strikeouts and one hit allowed in two innings in a 14-0 win at Wild Rose on April 14. He hit .264 in league play, including a two-for-three day in the 14-4 win at Athens that included a walk and two runs scored and a two-for-four day in a 10-5 home loss to Abbotsford-Colby on May 2 that included a double and a couple of nice catches in centerfield.

Michael Borchardt First Team All-Academic All-District

Talon Scheithauer Second Team

Ethan Cook Second Team

Andrew Wudi Hon. Mention

Dominic Quednow Hon. Mention