May 1, 2019 at 2:21 p.m.
RHS softball swept by Lakeland
All-GNC catcher Mullikin feared lost for season with knee injury
RHS softball swept by Lakeland
Junior catcher Ella Mullikin was injured in the third inning of the second game as the Hodags dropped a twinbill to the Thunderbirds 10-0 and 6-5 at Pioneer Park.
Mullikin, the Hodags' lone retuning all-conference player from last year's team, appeared to injure her knee running to first base while attempting to beat out a ground ball and was down on the field for a couple of minutes before being helped off, unable to place any weight on her left leg.
Preliminary indications are that the injury could end Mullikin's season.
Rhinelander rose to the occasion in Mullikin's absence and took a 5-3 lead into the seventh, but Lakeland rallied for three runs in the final frame to win it - the last scoring on a third strike that got by Mullikin's replacement behind the plate, Haylie Stefonek.
"It changes us, defensively. She's probably one of the best catchers in the conference," DeMeyer said of Mullikin's loss. "Haylie stepped in cold and we told her this year we'd only use her in an emergency and, unfortunately, we had to use her. She did really good. I'm proud of her. We'll work on it a little bit more in practice tomorrow."
It was a tough ending to what was, otherwise, perhaps Rhinelander's best played game so far this season. Alex Oestreich kept Lakeland off balance for 6 1/3 innings, the Hodag defense committed only one error and the offense got its cuts again against Lakeland Game 2 starter Jenna Seidl to take an early lead.
"For the girls to come back, stay focused and do the job, they really deserved to win that game. I'm very proud of them that way," DeMeyer said. "I was really proud to see the improvement and cohesiveness of that team."
Ultimately though, Rhinelander had trouble against Lakeland ace Tatum Morris, who pitched a three-hit shutout in the first game and got the win in relief in the second game, allowing only one hit over the final 4 2/3 innings.
"She's good at keeping everyone off balance," DeMeyer said. "She's a good pitcher. She's not going to blow it by you, but she hits her spots. She's got a little movement and we've got to make that adjustment. We had a really hard time that first game. When she came in, in the second game, she basically shut us down."
Lakeland led off the seventh with a single by Amanda Kosmen to begin the final rally in Game 2. An RBI single two batters later by Camille Quade cut the lead to one and ended Oestreich's time in the circle. Sophia McGinnis came in but could not earn the save. Quade stole second and third off the battery of McGinnis and Stefonek. After Naomi Hamerla drew a walk, a wild pitch allowed Quade to score and Hamerla to get to second. Hamerla stole third and came around to score when Stefonek couldn't squeeze McGinnis' third-strike riseball against Caitlin Hartigan.
"Sophia, I brought her in a really tough spot and she threw strikes," DeMeyer said. "She threw the pitch that I called that last time. Unfortunately, Hailey wasn't able to handle it. It was a great riseball. We had the girl struck out, it would have been two outs and you never know what's going to happen from there."
Lakeland plated three runs off Oestreich in the first inning before she settled in. Overall, she allowed five runs on seven hits with three strikeouts in 6 1/3 innings.
Rhinelander got a run back in the second as McGinnis singled and eventually scored on a wild pitch.
The Hodags took the lead in the third on Mikayla Evenstad's three-run double to left. Three batters later, Brylee Ridderbusch drove in Evenstad with a single to make it 5-3.
Ridderbusch was Rhinelander's Game 1 starter and though she had only three walks in the contest, Lakeland was able to hit her hard - particularly the bottom of the T-Bird order.
The 7, 8 and 9 hitters in the Lakeland lineup were a combined 8-for-12 with six RBIs in the first game. Seidl hit a two-run home run off Ridderbusch in the fourth and No. 9 hitter Kyli Updike was 3-for-4 with a pair of RBIs.
"They can hit. They hit the ball hard," DeMeyer said.
Rhinelander (1-6, 0-5 Great Northern) travels to Northland Pines for another doubleheader this afternoon before coming home to take on Antigo tomorrow in a makeup of Monday's rained out contest.
Already thin to begin with, DeMeyer said attrition has taken its toll on his team - with Mullikin's injury being the latest blow.
"We'll see where we're at, healthy-wise," he said. "We're down to 10 players and we've still got half the season to go. We'll try to stay as healthy as we can. We'll shuffle what we need to do and try to get the girls ready.
"This is all part of softball. You're going to have some adversity. We just need to work through it."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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