By Craig Marx, Editor

With just one game remaining in the season now, the Antigo baseball team took down the Rhinelander Hodags 7-2 on Tuesday night to separate themselves from the pack on their way to another Great Northern Conference title.

“Huge win for us against a very good team,” head coach Scott Farmer said on Tuesday night. “We came ready to play and stayed focused throughout the game. Different guys [stepped] up in different ways. It was very good to see. Today was a huge step for our main goal we set for ourselves at the beginning of the season.”

Brady Tatro got the start for Antigo, going 6 1/3 innings where he allowed five hits and one earned run while striking out five batters and walking three. Hunter Kirsch provided two outs worth of closing work, striking out one Hodag batter in the process.

“Brady threw his best game of the year. He battled early on and then got stronger as the game progressed. He didn’t let things get to him and he just kept going after their hitters. That is what you need to do to be a good pitcher. He probably could’ve finished had I had someone run for him in the bottom of the 7th.  AJ then hit a triple and Brady scored from 1st–probably ran the rest of the gas out of him. It was nice to see Hunter come in and close the door for us too,” Farmer remarked about his solid pitching staff.

Much like the Brewers as of late, the Antigo bats were a relative hit factory. With 11 hits on the day, Rhinelander starter Jacob Demeyer lasted 5 2/3 innings in which he was responsible for ten Robin hits and six earned runs.

“Our four, five and six hitters were ready today. Demeyer was definitely one of the better pitchers we have seen all year.  He was throwing all three of his pitches for strikes. None of our hitters looked fooled or over matched throughout an at bat and we still had 11 hits. Very nice showing,” Farmer added.

AJ Kirsch was 3-4 on the day, including a two-RBI triple in sixth inning. Garret Held ended his evening with four runs batted, three coming off of a three-run homer in the second inning to start the run production for the Robins.

“Garret and AJ really had some big at bats today. Garret’s home run was a perfect swing on an outside fastball and look at the result that was a great answer to their scoring in the top half [of the second],” Farmer said.

Batting at the top of the order, Matt Arndt was 2-4 with a double in the sixth. H. Kirsch was 2-3 with a run scored.

Antigo moves on to round out both the regular season and its GNC conference play at Mosinee on Thursday evening (5 PM).