By Joe Bachman

The bats were hot this weekend if you were a Wisconsin Rapids Rambler.

This past weekend’s invitational tournament placed the Ramblers in three games — all of which they won. The first game against Great Lakes was their closest this weekend, coming out victorious in a 7-4 win. Nate Jackan contributed two RBIs, as well as Matt Schooley.

“The Great Lakes team is an all-star caliber team that came in and we played a great game,” said Coach Ryan Zwicke. “That was kind of the highlight of the weekend — we were hitting the ball very well from top to bottom over the weekend.”

(Courtesy Wisconsin Rapids Ramblers)

The second game against a formidable Lake Geneva team saw the Ramblers victorious in a 10-0 route. Nate Jackan, Caleb Krommenakker, and Brandon Guck all sent runners home with RBI’s in a four run fifth inning. The shutout, pitched by Krommenakker, only allowed two hits in five innings.

The Saturday bats were only warming up, as the Ramblers put up a 14 run first inning in Sunday’s game against Sheboygan that ended in a 17-0 route. Nate Jackan and Matt Schooley continued sending runners home with additional RBIs, as well as contributions from Jacob Mancl and Nathan Krommenakker.

With so many memorable moments in what was an incredibly successful weekend for the Rambler, it’s humility that stood out for Coach Zwiicke.

“The thing that stood out to me is that I had parents come up to me from Lake Geneva and wanted to compliment me on how respectful our players were,” said Zwicke. “Sometimes when you’re winning, you can get puffed up, and the kids were humble and played the game the way it should be played. I was proud of the way they handled themselves and respected the other teams.”

The regional tournament begins Thursday in Stevens Point with a game against Plover.

Game results taken in part by Narrative Science and GameChanger Media