May 24, 2021 at 8:56 a.m.
Hodag softball drops three straight to Pines, Tomahawk
Hodag softball drops three straight to Pines, Tomahawk
On Thursday, the Hodags fell victim to a walkoff error in a 7-6 loss at Northland Pines. Another late inning swoon did the Hodags in on Saturday as they dropped the first game of a doubleheader to Tomahawk 5-2 before getting blown out in the second game 13-0.
The losses dropped the Hodags back down to sixth in the Great Northern Conference standings. In all three instances, small mistakes compounded themselves into big innings against the Hodags.
"We're not coming through as a defense and getting the outs," coach D.J. DeMeyer said. "I keep telling myself we're a young team but we're halfway through the season and we shouldn't be making those mistakes anymore. We'll keep pushing it in practice.
"I go back to our Mosinee win and we've just got to play something close to that and we're in all these games, but we can't bring it back game-to-game. We're going to try to stress that, keep building toward the playoffs. Maybe we can surprise somebody in the playoffs."
Northland Pines 7, Rhinelander 6
The Hodags fought back to tie Thursday's game against the Eagles in the seventh inning, but Pines was able to walk off a winner at home, capitalizing on the Hodags' fifth error of the game.
Mackenzie Stebbeds stole third and then came home on a fielding error as the Eagles defeated the Hodags by a run. Catcher Abigale Johnson's throw to third on the play popped out of the glove of Chloe Felde, allowing Stebbeds to trot in for the winning run.
Struggles in the field were the story for the Hodags as all five errors directly contributed to Eagle runs.
"Just a frustrating game because I thought we turned the corner," coach DeMeyer said.
The Eagles put plenty of pressure on the Hodags, stealing eight bases. Stebbeds led off the bottom of the seventh with a single, and then stole second before the game's decisive play.
"They stole at will. We've got to work on our catching situation," coach DeMeyer said. "We were missing Maddi Roeser. Johnson did a good job. I've got to give credit to the pitcher and the catcher. They're working their butts off, but they were just stealing bases and that's just the way the game goes. If you have a catcher you can steal on, you're going to steal all day."
Down two in the top of the seventh, the Hodags loaded the bases with one out and got to within a run on a sacrifice fly by Worachek. Annika Johnson walked to reload the bases before Kylee White hit a game-tying single to right. The Hodags tried to take the lead by sending Addi DeMeyer home from second on the play, but she was cut down on a relay to the plate.
"With a good throw they get Addi at home. It was a really good throw. Addi didn't get home on the slide. They blocked the plate pretty well," coach DeMeyer said.
The Hodags took a 4-3 lead in the fifth on a two-run home run by Worachek, but Pines answered back with three runs in the bottom of the inning. A misplay allowed Stebbeds to score from second on an infield hit by Grace Wittkopf. Lucy Lurvey then hit a sacrifice fly to put Pines back in front. After Carly Huelskamp reached on a dropped third strike, Aubrey Beyer bunted home a run on a sacrifice.
Addi DeMeyer took the loss, allowing three earned runs on five hits with eight strikeouts over 6 1/3 innings. White went 3-for-4 at the play with DeMeyer added two hits for the Hodags, who outhit Pines 9-5 in the contest.
Tomahawk doubleheader
The Hatchets broke open a scoreless Game 1 on Saturday with three runs in the sixth inning and tacked on two more runs in the seventh. The Hodags got single runs in each of those two innings, but did not have enough offense to overcome 14 strikeouts from Hatchets' ace Maddie Marino.
Rhinelander's troubles in the sixth started as Addi DeMeyer walked the leadoff batter. Molly Mott then reached on an error on a ball that was bobbled by Worachek at short. After a Marino sacrifice, Mackenzie Scholz singled to left to put Tomahawk on the board.
The defensive struggles continued after Mott was caught in a rundown when Addison Bartz attempted to put down a bunt. DeMeyer's throw to third hit Mott in the back and caromed into would ground, allowing Mott to score. Later a sacrifice bunt allowed Scholz to score to make it 3-0 Tomahawk.
"That's been the story of our season, we can't walk the lead off the batter. When we do, they start bunting, moving runners. It puts the pressure on the defense," coach DeMeyer said.
Rhinelander scored one in the sixth as Worachek walked and scored on a two-out base hit by Kylee White, but Tomahawk plated to more in the top of the seventh.
DeMeyer walked three in the inning, including a bases-loaded free pass to Addison Bartz that forced in a run. She was relieved by Bixby in the circle and Tomahawk scored on more on an errant throw back to third after Megan Scholz pulled back on a safety squeeze bunt.
The Hodags got the tying run aboard in the seventh as Roeser doubled and scored on an Abigale Johnson single. DeMeyer then walked to put two on with two out, but Worachek struck out swinging to end the game.
Though only two of Rhinelander's 14 strikeouts in Game 1 were looking, coach DeMeyer said his batters were too passive early in the count.
"I think we looked at a lot of first two strikes," he said. "Instead of being aggressive at the plate, which we've been talking about all season. We'll stress that again. These girls took a lot of strikes. You only get three strikes, go after it, be aggressive. They started do that the second game a little bit."
Addi DeMeyer allowed five runs on four hits over 6 1/3 innings with five strikeouts, but she walked six batters and hit two others in her fourth start of the week.
"Addi looked like she got tired around the fifth, sixth inning," coach DeMeyer said. "Her legs were gone and I think her arm was a little sore. She threw a lot this week."
Because of that, the Hodags went with Bixby in the circle in Game 2 and Tomahawk hit her around to the tune of 12 runs on seven hits over 2 2/3 innings. The Hatchets scored four runs on four hits in the first, got a two-run single by Marino in the second as part of a three-run frame and then tacked on six in the third, all with two outs.
Sammy Gebauer hit a three-run inside-the-park home run on a slicer into the right-field corner before Mott doubled and Marino was hit by a pitch to end Bixby's time in the circle. Laney Haenel came in, but the inning continued as Mackenzie Scholz reached on an error that allowed a run to scored before Bartz hit a two-run single to make it 13-0.
"Bix(by) just didn't have it today. She must have just been missing high and outside, but Laney Haenel came - I think there's runners on second and third - she does her job, gets the ground ball and we don't make the play. We would have been out of the inning," coach DeMeyer said. "I was proud of the way Laney Haenel got in there and threw strikes. I think she even had a strikeout."
The Hodags will face Medford this afternoon at Pioneer Park. The Raiders (13-0, 8-0 GNC) can clinch a share of the conference title with a win. Medford defeated Rhinelander 11-1 in the teams' first meeting May 11.
"That will be a tough game," coach DeMeyer said. "Hopefully Addi can get some rest, can come in at top form and we can make the plays in front of us. I still think we can compete with them. We're going to have to hit the ball too. That's a good pitcher and we didn't hit it against her last time. Medford is the class of the conference this year, so we'll do the best we can."
DeMeyer also said the Hodags have picked up a non-conference game this coming Thursday at D.C. Everest.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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