Baseball: Kolodziej, Mosinee hand D-2 top ranked Rhinelander first loss of the season

After a slow start to the season, the Mosinee baseball team has turned it around in a big way. Further proof came Thursday when the unbeaten and D-2 #1 ranked Rhinelander Hodags came to town. Kaden Kolodziej, who no-hit Medford in his last start, was nearly as good in shutting out the Hodags on 4 hits over 6 2/3 innings in leading Mosinee to a 2-0 win.

Kolodziej and Conner Rappley matched goose eggs until the bottom of the 5th when Mosinee would take the lead. Kolodziej would be hit by a pitch and Mitchell Michlig singled to put runners on 1st and 2nd with two out. Tyler Baars would then line a Rappley pitch to center field for a single that would give Mosinee a 1-0 lead.

Mosinee would double their advantage in the 6th when Sebastian Andersen would lead off with a double and score on a Noah Zebro single to make it 2-0. Kolodziej was unable to finish off the shutout as he hit the 100 pitch WIAA limit with 2 out in the 7th. Easton Brooks would come on and get the final out in the 2-0 win.

After starting the season at 2-5 overall, Mosinee now has won 10 games in a row to improve to 12-5 and 8-3 in the GNC. Rhinelander falls to 13-1 overall and 11-1 in the Great Northern Conference.