RIB LAKE BASEBALL - Redmen shut out Loggers to stop mini mid-season slide

RIB LAKE BASEBALL

The Rib Lake baseball team’s hot start to the 2024 season stalled last week with three straight losses but the Redmen got back on track Tuesday, shutting out Phillips 4-0 in a key Marawood North matchup.

Jackson Blomberg threw a three-hit shutout, striking out seven and walking only two while the offense continued to scuffle a bit. But the Redmen did enough, putting the ball in play to move runners along and get them across when needed.

The win allowed Rib Lake to keep pace with Abbotsford-Colby atop the North standings. The Redmen are 6-1 in league play, a half-game behind the 7-1 Falcons, who swept a doubleheader with Prentice Tuesday as those teams got ahead of the predicted rainfall for today, Thursday.

Rib Lake (10-3 overall) will try to host Phillips today, Thursday, in their rematch for the week. If the game is not played, it could very likely be moved to Friday, which is an open date for the Redmen, while the Loggers are currently scheduled to visit Edgar.

Phillips fell to 4-3 in league play with Tuesday’s loss.

Blomberg continued his outstanding season in terms of pitching, only having to get through a couple of threats in the win.

“He was pretty much in control,” Rib Lake head coach Dick Iverson said. “He got into one jam in the fourth with runners on second and third with one out, but we picked a guy off and got a ground ball to get out of it. They also had two on in the seventh but Jackson got a strikeout to end it.”

The Redmen scored single runs in four different innings. The first couple came off Phillips’ top pitcher, left-hander Drew Hauschild, who hadn’t pitched since the season opener due to a shoulder injury.

Talon Scheithauer walked in the first, moved to third on two passed balls and scored on Blomberg’s sacrifice fly. Dominic Quednow walked in the second inning, stole second base, moved to third on a passed ball and scored on an error.

Ethan Cook singled in the sixth. Courtesy runner Aiden Stapleton stole second and scored on Quednow’s single to make it 3-0. In the seventh, Tyler Matyka reached on an error. Stapleton pinch ran and stole second. Donovan Sutherland bunted Stapleton to third and Scheithauer’s fielder’s choice drove in the run.

Cook had two hits, while Scheithauer and Quednow had one each for the Redmen, who stole eight bases.

“We did put the ball in play when we had runners in scoring position, unlike the night before when we didn’t,” Iverson said. “Defensively we played really well. Talon made a great play in the hole at short. Andrew Wudi made three plays at third that were really good and Dominic made a couple of nice plays in centerfield.”

Rib Lake will finish Marawood North play next week against the Chequamegon Screaming Eagles, while Phillips hooks up with Athens. Rib Lake will head to Park Falls on Tuesday and host the Eagles on May 9. Stratford visits for a May 10 Marawood crossover.

Pines 4, Rib Lake 2

The rain held off enough for Rib Lake to make a long trip to Eagle River Monday where the host Northland Pines Eagles strung together four hits to score three runs in the third inning and made a huge defensive play in the sixth to turn back the Redmen 4-2 in non-conference play.

Left-hander Landyn Hoeft, a secondteam All-Great Northern Conference pitcher last spring, limited Rib Lake to six hits and kept his pitch count well under 100 while going the distance. Both teams had six hits, but Pines got two of its hits in the first inning when it scored the game’s first run and got its other four in the big third inning with a one-out bloop single, a double and, after two walks and a double that knocked in two runs.

Rib Lake got its first run in the second when Quednow was hit by a pitch, moved to third on Brady Heiser’s single and scored on an error. In the fourth, Blomberg singled, stole second and scored on Heiser’s double.

In the top of the sixth, Rib Lake threatened with Wudi and Blomberg getting leadoff hits. Cook then hit a one-hop bullet that Northland Pines’ third baseman gloved. He stepped on the bag and threw across the diamond for a double play as a low throw was dug out by the Eagles’ first baseman.

“One more inch and it’s down the leftfield line and probably a tie game with a runner on second and no outs,” Iverson said. “That kinda took the air out of us. Ethan hit it hard. (The third baseman) made a great play.”

Seth Borchardt pitched three innings and took the loss. He struck out three, walked three and allowed six hits and four runs, three of which were earned. Wudi threw two shutout innings and Quednow struck out three in a scoreless sixth.

“We had hits,” Iverson said. “We had six hits and they had six hits. It’s just that they put them all together. In that third inning, they had four of their hits. I thought we played OK. Right now we’re struggling a little at the plate. We’ve seen decent pitching too. Hoeft was changing speeds on us, throwing a nice change and had his curveball going. He kept us off-balance. They played good defense. Their leftfielder made a diving catch and that saved them a couple runs in one inning and the third baseman pretty much saved the game for them with that play in the sixth.

“We’ve been doing OK pitching,” Iverson added. “We just have to string some hits together, which I know we can do. Sometimes you get in a funk and you start thinking about too many things instead of just going up there and having a plan and executing the plan. All it takes is a couple good at-bats and away we go.”

Eagles 4, Redmen 2

Rib Lake lost 4-2 to another team of Eagles Friday, falling at home to Auburndale in a good Marawood Conference crossover.

The Eagles scored single runs in the second and third innings and got two key runs in the fifth to go up 4-1. Rib Lake got its last run in the sixth, but could get no closer.

Missed opportunities was clearly the story in this one.

“We had runners on, we just couldn’t get them in,” Iverson said. “They scored three of their four runs with two outs, so they came up with the clutch hit every time and we didn’t. They had five hits, we had eight hits. They have a nice team. They played pretty good defense. We made a couple errors that cost us a little bit, but basically we just couldn’t come up with the big hit.”

Blomberg had one of the big hits with an RBI triple. Quednow went two for three with an RBI.

Quednow pitched the first four innings. He struck out two, walked two and gave up four hits and four runs, three of which were earned. Borchardt finished with three shutout innings. He struck out five while giving up one hit.

Wudi was two for four at the plate. Matyka, Scheithauer and Stapleton added hits.

Caden Weinfurter got the win for Auburndale, going six innings and allowing six hits. He struck out three. Ayden Raab pitched a scoreless seventh with a strikeout. Kaden Anderson had three of the Eagles’ runs batted in. Auburndale improved to 6-3 overall at the time.

“Both teams pitched well and both teams played pretty good defense,” Iverson said. “We just had a couple pickoffs that cost a runner here or there, but that didn’t cost us the game. We just didn’t come up with the big hit. Give them credit. They made the plays when they had to.”

Rib Lake had a chance to take full control of the Marawood North race Thursday, but a six-run third inning gave host Abbotsford-Colby a 10-2 lead and the Falcons went on to win 11-3.

The result left the two teams tied atop the North standings. The loss was Rib Lake’s first of the season and came two days after the Redmen beat Abbotsford-Colby 6-4 in Rib Lake.

The Redmen had a brief 2-0 lead after Wudi singled, Blomberg walked and both scored on Quednow’s triple in the top of the first inning.

Abbotsford-Colby cut the lead in half in the bottom of the inning and then scored three in the second for a 4-2 lead.

Rib Lake opened the door for Abbotsford-Colby’s big third inning by booting two routine balls at the start.

“It should have been three-up, threedown,” Iverson said. “Instead it was 10-2.”

Matyka walked and scored on Scheithauer’s single in the fifth, but that was answered by the Falcons.

Rib Lake had four hits, one apiece by Scheithauer, Wudi, Blomberg and Quednow. Blomberg drew two walks. Scheithauer had his toughest outing of the season on the mound, lasting just 2.2 innings. He allowed 10 runs, four of which were earned on just five hits. He walked five, struck out two and hit a batter.

“Talon was a little bit off that day and any time we had an error, they took advantage of it,” Iverson said. “We gave up six walks and hit two batters and had some errors. You’re not going to win if you do that against a good team.”

Wudi put in 2.1 solid relief innings. He struck out one and allowed a run on three hits. Cook pitched the sixth and walked one.