August 7, 2019 at 12:55 p.m.
Northwoods Fastpitch teams wrap up the summer
Northwoods Fastpitch teams wrap up the summer
By By Brett LaBore-
of the lakeland times
The Northwoods Fastpitch softball teams, a co-op of players from several Northwoods area schools, including Lakeland, Rhinelander and Northland Pines, concluded their summer schedule this past weekend during tournament play in Appleton where they faced both tough competition and crazy weather.
The 12U teamwrapped up play with a 1-0 loss on Sunday. The 14U team took a defeat early Sunday morning losing 12-0.
The 16U team played two games on Saturday, taking tough losses 9-0 and a rain-shortened 3-2 loss.
16U
The 16U team went 0-4 on the weekend, which included a pair of one-run losses to New London.
Pool play began Friday against Wisconsin Heat. Naomi Hamerla gave Northwoods a spark with a home run in the first inning, giving them a 1-0 lead, but things eventually turned in a 7-2 loss to one of the pre-tournament favorites.
"They got scheduled against one of the tougher couple of teams right out of the chute," 16U coach Jason Morris explained. "We played them really well, these girls fought hard."
Next against New London, Northwoods scored three times in the third to take a 3-1 lead. Anna Schilling singled followed by an Alexis Hekrdle walk. Camille Quade kept the train moving with a single. Lucy Lurvey then got the big hit, scoring a couple of runs with her single.
Hannah Worachek had a leadoff hit in the fourth. Kelty Neff singled and Worachek scored to make it a 4-1 lead, but New London rallied for four in the bottom of the inning to take a 5-4 win.
After two losses on Friday, the 16U were back on Saturday with pool play against the Wisconsin Scorpions, who scored nine runs in the third - the only scoring in a 9-0 defeat for Northwoods.
Northwoods got its best rally going in the top of the fifth with a lead-off walk by Lurvey. Then, Tatum Morris singled to put runners on first and second. A double play line out put a dent in the rally and the Scorpions eventually won 9-0.
"That's a really good team we played. We didn't have a lot for bats, so it's always tough to win a game when you don't score a run," explained 16U coach Jason Morris. "Out of four innings off offense for them we held them scoreless for three of them."
The start of bracket play featured a rematch against New London. Again New London scored in its last at bat to take the win, this time 3-2.
Quade singled to lead off the first as Northwoods was the road team again. Two batters later, Hamerla doubled and the first run of the game was scored.
New London answered back and scored two runs of their own in the bottom of the first as the game was off and running. New London led 2-1.
In the top of the fourth, Lurvey hit a triple to start the rally, only down one run. Kelty Neff followed that up with an RBI single and the game was tied 2-2. Northwoods had a chance to score more, but Morris stranded runners on second and third.
After leaving runners on base, Morris returned to the mound. In the fifth, New London took advantage of a Northwoods' error and singled home a run to take the lead 3-2, just before storms came and eventually canceled play for the day.
"At the end of the day, I couldn't be prouder of these girls to become tougher as group from other schools and blend together," Morris said. "They did really well at the Calumet tournament, they did really well at the Pines tournament and to come here and get this experience has been outstanding."
12U
Because of bad weather on Saturday, games on Sunday morning were limited to 45 minutes. After going 3-1 in pool play, the 12U played Xplosion UP in bracket play and took a close 1-0 loss. But that didn't take away from a tremendous summer.
"We won a few more games this year but what I really enjoyed about this year was the kids and families," explained 12U coach Jacob Schueller. "We've got a great group and have absolutely none of the negativity that you often hear about in youth sports. I told them how proud I was to coach em and how much I enjoy them as people."
Saylor Timmerman finished the year as the team's defensive MVP and Carley Huelskamp was the team's offensive MVP.
"(Saylor) is an absolute shut-down pitcher," Schueller said. "(Carley) can flat out hit. We don't keep official stats but I'd guess her batting average was well over .500."
14U
The 14U team played Fondy Fusion in bracket play on Sunday morning. Unfortunately things did not go their way and they lost 12-0. Because the first inning took so long, Northwoods only had three at-bats in the game. They finished the tournament with a 2-3 record.
"It just didn't turn out on Sunday," explained 14U coach D.J. DeMeyer. "We gave them eight outs."
But, overall, it was still a successful season that included lots of learning and team chemistry, he said.
"It happened in Houghton, Michigan," DeMeyer said. "We started hitting the ball, team chemistry was there, it was our best tournament, girls were having a lot of fun and coming tighter as a unit. Overall, very impressed on the improvement of all the players."
Looking ahead
Now that the summer is in the books and the season is over, it's time to reflect on what was accomplished throughout the summer.
"We wanted to have it to where it was a good experience for getting some friendships, getting some new bonds," Morris said. "It was a learning experience, hopefully growing as players and as young ladies and I think we accomplished that."
Brett LaBore may be reached at [email protected] or [email protected].
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