RIB LAKE BASEBALL PREVIEW - Strong senior/sophomore core aims for better finish this time

RIB LAKE BASEBALL PREVIEW

Featuring many of the same studentathletes who drove Rib Lake’s successful boys basketball team of this winter, a strong combination of seniors and sophomores provides the core for what the Redmen expect to be a solid 2024 baseball squad.

It’s a season the seniors, in particular, have been looking forward to knowing their strengths and those of the sophomores should fit together quite well. They did in basketball, except for the finish when Rib Lake was bounced from the WIAA Division 5 earlier than expected with a gut-wrenching 45-43 regional final loss to Owen-Withee.

A month later, senior co-captains Jackson Blomberg and Andrew Wudi said that loss still stings, but the start of the baseball season offers a chance to refocus on a new challenge and brings the motivation to author a happier ending.

“We all want to win, especially after what happened in basketball,” Wudi said last week. “There are a lot of people who were also on that team, so part of that still lingers with us. It gives us a little more drive to keep working harder.”

“We don’t want to have that sting again,” Blomberg said.

Mother Nature was kind enough this year to allow the Redmen to make their season-opening trip to Stoddard Saturday, where they beat De Soto 9-8 in nine innings and Wauzeka-Steuben 16-2 in five innings.

Head coach Dick Iverson, back for his 41st season in the position, said it was a positive start and he too is optimistic about this team’s chances this spring.

“By the end of the year we could be a very good team if we stay healthy,” Iverson said.

With a 14-man roster that was half freshmen in 2023, Rib Lake put together a 10-8 season that included a 6-4 mark in the Marawood North, good for a secondplace tie with Phillips well behind 10-0 Abbotsford-Colby. Six Redmen earned an All-Marawood North award at some level and five of those players are back.

That includes Blomberg, a unanimous first-team All-Marawood North selection, and Wudi, who got honorable mention.

Blomberg enters his fourth year as a varsity starter. He’s viewed as the ace of Rib Lake’s pitching staff and will see time at shortstop, centerfield and probably log a few innings at catcher when he’s not throwing. Blomberg, the team’s 2023 MVP, hit .370 last year with eight extrabase hits including two homers, 22 runs batted in and a .500 on-base percentage. He had a 3.63 earned run average in 36.2 innings pitched with 31 strikeouts.

Wudi is another fouryear starter who will see the majority of his time at third base but he will get some relief pitching innings as well and can play a variety of defensive positions if needed. He pitched well in his spots last spring, allowing just two earned runs in 7.2 innings for a 1.83 earned run average. At the plate, Wudi hit .245 overall and stole a team-high 15 bases.

Dominic Quednow is the third returning senior. He’s going into his third year as a varsity starter and is an excellent centerfielder. The left-hander will pitch as well. He got honorable mention in the conference last spring. He hit .255 overall.

Three sophomores will again play big roles.

Talon Scheithauer and Ethan Cook both were All-Marawood second-team selections as freshmen. Scheithauer actually had the lowest earned run average of the team’s primary pitchers last spring at 2.07, allowing just six earned runs and nine walks in 20.1 innings. He had a 3-1 record and is slated to be the number-two man in the rotation this year. He will play shortstop when he’s not pitching and he’ll be back in the leadoff spot in the batting order. He hit .349 (22 for 63) overall last spring and led the team with 22 runs scored. He stole 14 bases.

Cook will be the team’s primary catcher and could pitch a little bit. He has infield experience as well. Cook hit a solid .339 as a freshman and drove in 17 runs.

Seth Borchardt returns as the starting rightfielder and he and Quednow are battling to be the third and fourth pitchers in the pecking order. Another lefty, struck out eight batters in 6.1 innings last year and hit .244 with eight runs driven in.

There are two returning juniors. Brady Heiser has gotten time the past two years but now he takes over as the full-time first baseman or could be a designated hitter in certain lineups. He had 11 hits, drove in seven runs and hit .234 overall last year. Tyler Matyka’s action was limited but he’s the starting second baseman to open the year and could see time in leftfield too.

The opening roster stands at 18 with nine having no varsity experience.

Senior Donovan Sutherland is giving baseball a try after three years in track and he’s in the battle for playing time in leftfield along with sophomore Aiden Stapleton and freshman Jackson Schutt.

Sophomores Chris Krause and Zach Olson and freshmen Briley Leonhard, Will Johnson, Jack Jensen, Alex Rodriguez and David Pichea fill out the roster. Rib Lake’s three losses include Michael Borchardt, who is now playing for Northwestern University in the Twin Cities, Dalen Gebauer and Joe Treffinger, who likely would have competed for a starting spot this year, but he’s moved to Loyal. “We’re kind of a young group,” Wudi said. “We have quite a few freshmen, five or six. From those guys it’s just improvement every day. From our older guys, it’s been what we expect. We expect them to be working hard, we expect them to give it their all in practice.” “Everyone has been working hard,” Blomberg said. Iverson said pitching depth should be a strength. The big thing he hopes to see is offensive improvement. Overall the Redmen hit .283 as a team and scored 139 runs, an average of 7.3 per game that was boosted by two blowout wins over Prentice and a nonconference rout of Wild Rose. Situational hitting was an issue at times with several of the team’s 111 strikeouts coming with runners on and short-circuiting rallies.

“We expect to hit better this year,” Iverson said.

For the most part, the batting order will stay similar to least year. Scheithauer, Wudi and Blomberg fill the first three spots, Cook moves up a spot to number four, followed by Quednow, Heiser, Borchardt and Matyka with the ninth spot to be determined.

The Redmen will need to score runs to beat Marawood North favorite Abbotsford-Colby, who returns three first-team All-North performers in JV Castillo, Blake Bargender and Evan Reis and three more who got second-team or honorable mention.

“Abbotsford is the favorite,” Iverson said. “Phillips is going to be really good, Chequamegon is better and Athens is al-ways good. Prentice could be improved a lot. They have a lot of talent back.”

Not only is the basketball season’s ending one the players would like to re-write, so is last year’s baseball finish. One year after reaching the sectional final and playing as the sectional half-bracket’s twoseed, the Redmen lost a 12-4 dud in their WIAA Division 4 opener to seventh-seeded Glenwood City in the regional semifinal round.

This year’s 12-team half-bracket does not include last year’s one-seed, Eau Claire Regis, or last year’s eventual champion, sixth-seeded McDonell Central. Last year’s third seed, Owen-Withee, and Thorp do not have teams this season. Eau Claire Immanuel, Clear Lake, Athens, Edgar, Glenwood City and Gilman are some of the teams aiming to claim high seeds this May, along with Rib Lake.

“We’ve all known each other for quite a long time,” Wudi said. “Seth, Talon and Ethan I’ve known them since second grade, third grade. I’ve played baseball with them for so long it’s like I’m playing (the seniors) at the same time.”

“It’s kind of like we’ve had this year in the back of our minds for a long time, baseball and basketball,” Blomberg said.

“The North will be very good this year,” Iverson said. “We will contend if we throw strikes, play solid defense and put the ball in play.”

Talon Scheithauer gets the bat on the ball while working on bunting during Rib Lake’s March 26 practice. MATT FREY/THE STAR NEWS