LAKE TOMAHAWK - People look forward to all kinds of things during the summer. But one sport in the Northwoods has a tradition like no other. The 52nd season of snowshoe baseball kicked off Monday and if you haven't seen it yet, you're missing out on quite a unique form of entertainment. Marisa Silvas has the story.
RHINELANDER - The long winter took its toll on baseball players. They didn't have the chance to hit the field till late in the season- but now that summer's here, they have more time to brush up on their skills.
The first ever Hodag Hitting Camp is taking place this week. Boys from 9 through 15 years old are working on their hitting and bunting.
Rhinelander High School varsity coach Joe Waksmonski is running the clinic. His focus is breaking down the steps of your swing and also the mental approach you should take at the plate.
The players are learning a variety of drills. Coach says it's all about working on the little things.
RHINELANDER - Nothing says summer break more than going to camp! For student athletes, it's important to keep working on their skills during the offseason. This week, basketball players from around the Northwoods had the chance hit the gym.
The Synergy Basketball Camp is taking place at the Jim Miazga Gym at Rhinelander High School. Close to a hundred boys and girls from 4th through 12th grade are taking part in this unique style of training.
The camp travels around the state and focuses on the fundamentals, plus much more.
MINOCQUA - Firefighters make their living being our heroes. Today in Minocqua, people had the chance to see them show off their skills up close.
It was the second annual fire and rescue invitational. Three area fire departments competed to see who could post the fastest times. Minocqua, Arbor Vitae and Schofield firefighters raced against the clock in 4 rounds.
They had to gear up, knock down bowling pins with a fire hose, go through an obstacle course and simulate cutting someone out of a car.
All the proceeds from the event go to the Children's Burn Center in Milwaukee and the teams enjoyed the friendly competition.
After the dust settled it was the fire department from Arbor Vitae taking first place.
ANTIGO - “You really had a lot of shifting tides in this game. We’d have an inning, they’d have one right back.”
Rhinelander Rebels coach Dan Huhnstock and his players couldn’t sense any continuity in a wild 17-13 loss at Antigo Thursday night.
Each team had three separate innings scoring two or more runs, but the Typhoon sent the Rebels to their second loss in a row to start the American Legion baseball season.
THE NORTHWOODS - Rhinelander's Hunter Poulos was visiting his grandparents in Sugar Camp and decided to do a little fishing. The 14 year old was glad he did, because he caught this large mouth bass on Echo Lake. Hunter held on to it long enough to take a couple pictures, then released the fish to swim another day.
Jon Solberg of Minocqua went out the last week of May and reeled in this smallmouth bass. The 20 inch fish was caught on a rattlin' rogue and was one of many good sized pre-spawn smallies caught in Vilas County.
Cody Kangas from Phelps was fishing from the dock when he felt a tug. The 11 year old brought up this 37 inch, 12 and a half pound northern. Cody was using an artificial crawfish with a white jig and was quite proud of himself.
And ladies are having success out on the water too. Summit Lake's Wendy Wayne caught this 21 inch walleye. She was fishing on Lake Gogebic and used a floating jig. Wendy says she's looking forward to making a good meal with this beauty.
APPLETON - It was a wild finish in Thursday night's state baseball tournament. In the Division One championship, SPASH faced Sun Prairie.
SPASH trailed 4-2 in the bottom of the seventh inning with 2 outs. However they had two runners on base when Point batter Mitch Mallek was hit by a pitch.
Initially, the umpire ruled the batter didn't get out of the way. After talking to his crew, the umpire reversed the call and awarded first base.
That loaded the bases for Sterling King. He hit a 2-run single to tie the game and send it to extra innings.
Weeks, Ramirez homer later, Brewers top Astros 3-1
Submitted: 06/19/2013
HOUSTON - Rickie Weeks hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning and Aramis Ramirez added a solo shot in the ninth to lift the Milwaukee Brewers to a 3-1 win over the Houston Astros on Wednesday night.
The Brewers couldn't get anything going against Houston starter Erik Bedard as he threw a season-high 7 1-3 innings. Bedard was replaced by Hector Ambriz (1-4) with a runner on second, and Weeks greeted him with his sixth homer of the year for a 2-1 lead.
John Axford (3-3) struck out two in the seventh for the win. Francisco Rodriguez allowed two hits in a scoreless ninth for his fifth save and the 299th of his career.
Rask finally has rough game, Blackhawks tie series
Submitted: 06/19/2013
BOSTON - Tuukka Rask finally lost his touch against some of the NHL's top scorers.
Boston's goalie gave up as many goals on Wednesday night as he did in four previous games combined as the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Bruins 6-5 in overtime to even the Stanley Cup finals 2-2.
Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane, Chicago's top regular-season goal scorers, connected for the first time in the best-of-seven series. In the previous round, the Bruins swept Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins as Rask allowed just two goals in four games.
He began Wednesday night's game with a 1.64 goals against average and 14-5 record in the playoffs. But with loose defense by the Bruins and traffic in front of him by the Blackhawks, he had a rough night.
MIAMI - LeBron James shrugged off a poor start to get 32 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds, Ray Allen hit a 3-pointer with 5.2 seconds to play to force overtime and the Miami Heat staved off elimination with a 103-100 victory over the San Antonio Spurs in Game 6 of the NBA Finals on Tuesday night.
James missed nine of his first 12 shots, but scored 16 points in the fourth to rally the Heat from a 10-point deficit. The Heat trailed 94-89 with 28 seconds to play, but James hit a 3 with 20 seconds to go and Allen drilled another to tie it.
James' layup with 1:43 to play in overtime gave the Heat a 101-100 lead, and Allen added two free throws to force Game 7, which is on Thursday night in Miami.
HOUSTON - Matt Dominguez hit a grand slam and drove in a career-high five runs to back another solid performance by Jordan Lyles, and the Houston Astros rolled to a 10-1 win over the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday night.
Carlos Pena had a three-run homer and Chris Carter had two hits and drove in a run as the Astros won for the fifth time in six games.
The 22-year-old Lyles (4-1) yielded seven hits and one run over seven innings. It was his seventh straight start with two or less earned runs.
The Astros were up by one in the fifth when Pena launched his home run to chase Milwaukee starter Alfredo Figaro and extend the lead to 5-1. Dominguez's first career grand slam was off Tom Gorzelanny and came in Houston's five-run seventh.
CINCINNATI - Juan Francisco drove in three runs with a sacrifice fly and homer in a ballpark where he's had some big moments, and Yovani Gallardo pitched six innings on Saturday, leading the Milwaukee Brewers to a 6-0 victory over the Cincinnati Reds.
It was a rare win in Cincinnati for the Brewers, who have dropped 11 of their last 14 games at Great American Ball Park.
Logan Schafer had three hits off Homer Bailey (4-5), his second straight three-hit game. Schafer is filling in for Ryan Braun, on the DL with an injured thumb.
Gallardo (6-6) gave up three hits and a pair of walks in his second straight impressive start. Three relievers completed a seven-hitter for Milwaukee's first shutout. The Brewers were the only team in the majors without one.
Brewers place Ryan Bruan on 15-day DL with right-thumb injury
Submitted: 06/14/2013
CINCINNATI - The Brewers have placed outfielder Ryan Braun on the 15-day DL with an injured right thumb, reports Adam McCalvy of MLB.com. The team will make a corresponding roster move on Saturday.
Braun, 29, has not played since Sunday, when he left the game after three innings. He took batting practice Friday and continued to feel discomfort, so the DL move was made. The injury is being described as inflammation around a nerve between his right thumb and index finger.
In 57 games this year, Braun is hitting .304/.380/.509 (139 OPS+) with nine home runs in 242 plate appearances. This is the first DL stint of his career, which has spanned parts of seven seasons now.
Milwaukee has been playing Logan Schafer in left field during Braun's absence. The 26-year-old Schafer is hitting .225/.279/.300 on the season.
CINCINNATI - Jay Bruce homered off Burke Badenhop with one out in the 10th inning on Friday night, rallying the Cincinnati Reds to a 4-3 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers in a game full of errors and wasted chances.
It was Cincinnati's second straight extra-inning game. The Reds fell 6-5 in 14 innings at Wrigley Field on Thursday, leaving their bullpen depleted.
Bruce connected on a 1-2 pitch from Badenhop (0-3) for his fifth game-ending homer. Alfredo Simon (5-2) retired the side in the 10th.
The teams combined for five errors _ including a season-high three by Cincinnati. Bronson Arroyo hit Martin Maldonado with the bases loaded to force in a run, and Maldonado homered off him to tie it in the eighth.
Joe joined the Newswatch 12 sports team in July 2011 as the Sports Director.
Before coming to the Northwoods, Joe was the Weekend Sports Anchor at KBJR in Duluth, MN. Joe's resume includes working at WFRV in Green Bay, WDIO in Duluth, and WTCH radio in Shawano.
Joe has always had a passion for sports, especially football, hockey, and golf. Joe is a 2005 graduate from UW-Oshkosh with a B.S. degree in Radio/TV/Film. During his college days, he was the Sports Director for the university's radio station twice.
A native of Frog Station, WI (near Green Bay), Joe grew up watching the Packers, Brewers, and Bucks. In fact he also lists listening to old Packer radio braodcasts among his hobbies. Recently, Joe married his fiancee Amy.
When he is not watching or playing sports, he's likely reading or watching something on the American Civil War, or World War II.
Joe says,"In just a short time, I have really been made to feel right at home, thanks to the great folks in the Northwoods."
If you see Joe out on a shoot, please feel free to say hi and email any story ideas you may have.
Marisa Silvas joined the Newswatch 12 sports team in October 2011 as the Weekend Sports Anchor/Reporter.
Prior to coming to WJFW, she was an editor/associate producer for Comcast SportsNet Bay Area in San Francisco, CA. She also was a freelance field producer for NBC's Football Night in America and spent 6 years as a sports producer and editor for KNTV, the Bay Area’s NBC affiliate where she co-hosted a weekly Sports Sunday web show with Jerry Rice.
She graduated with a degree in Communications from Santa Clara University.
Marisa is new to the Northwoods and the cold weather but has lived in several different locations on her journey to Rhinelander. Coming from a family with military ties, she was born in Austin, TX, but also grew up in Mississippi, Lancaster, CA, San Antonio, TX before settling down in Campbell, CA for the past several years.
Marisa has always had a passion for sports and people and has followed her dreams to WJFW after pursuing a full time on-air job for several years.
Marisa likes all sports but is most passionate about the NFL, NBA and major league baseball. Since she has lived in many different locations her favorite teams are all over the country as well. You will see her following her favorites: the San Antonio Spurs, Oakland Athletics and yes, Packers fans, sorry, the Chicago Bears.
She is also an avid fantasy sports fan and has participated in fantasy football and hockey leagues the past 5 seasons. Feel free to ask her for the hot waiver wire pickup!
She and her husband of 4 years, Lyndon, have taken several vacations over the past few summers to visit all the MLB parks...she has now been to 14 and is excited to add Target Field to the list this summer! Her favorites so far are Wrigley, PNC and Miller Park. She and her husband also make an annual trek to Soldier Field to watch their beloved Bears and hang out in their favorite city, where they got engaged at the top of the Hancock Tower in 2007.
In her free time, she loves hanging out with her husband Lyndon and adorable puggle Walter. She also never misses her favorite TV show, Dancing With The Stars and with an extensive dancing background, someday dreams of being a future celebrity contestant and winner!
Marisa is very excited to be making the big move from sunny California to the winter wonderland of Rhinelander! If you see Marisa out in the field or around the town, feel free to say hi and buy her a hot chocolate, she's probably cold!
Disclaimer: All information deemed reliable but not guaranteed and should be independently verified. Neither Rockfleet Broadcasting / Northland Television, Inc. nor By Request Web Designs shall be responsible for any typographical errors, misinformation, or misprints.
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