May 26, 2021 at 1:18 p.m.
Rhinelander softball blanked by GNC-champion Raiders
Rhinelander softball blanked by GNC-champion Raiders
Medford collected three runs in the first, and four in the seventh while Martha Miller tossed a one-hitter with 10 strikeouts as the Raiders clinched a share of the Great Northern Conference championship with a 10-0 victory over the Hodags.
The Hodags (4-12, 3-7 Great Northern) have dropped four straight, all in GNC play, since upsetting Mosinee at home last Tuesday.
"Medford's the class of the conference and they showed it again tonight," Hodag coach D.J. DeMeyer said. "We again had errors. We beat ourselves again and that's been the case all season long ... If our team just makes the plays that are in front of us, I know I sound like a broken record, but the capability's there."
Tuesday's game started at Pioneer Park and was suspended due to lightning in the top of the fourth inning. The teams agreed to relocate to the Hodag Dome where the game resumed following a 46-minute delay.
Medford jumped ahead right away in the first inning as Miller walked, stole second, moved to third on a bunt and scored when Morgan Huegli reached on an error. Huegli later scored as part of a double steal of second and home with Laurissa Klapatauskas and Delani Clausnitzer added a triple to the right field corner to make it 3-0.
Miller scored again in the third, coming around from second on an infield hit by Allie Paulson. Allie Wesel singled for Medford with two out in the top of the fourth just before a bolt of lightning sent the teams scurrying for shelter and, eventually, the Hodag Dome. When players resumed, Wesle stole second, took third on an overthrow and came around to score on a wild pitch.
The Raiders tacked on one more in the sixth as Makala Ulrich scored on a grounder to second by Katy Brehm. Brehm wound up safe at first on the play as Abigail Bixby hesitated after fielding the ball with Ulrich coming home before firing to first late.
D.J. DeMeyer said that was one of several examples where he would like to see his team more decisive in the field.
"Overall, I see it. I don't know if the girls believe in themselves yet," he said. "We've got to get them believing in themselves. We've got to get them thinking all the time. Some of them do and some of them don't. They've got to be thinking all the time what to do with the ball. We're getting there, but it's slow."
Medford's bench strung together three straight hits off reliever Laney Haenel in the seventh, including an RBI single by Madisyn Pilgrim to make it 7-0. Makala Ulrich added an RBI single that eventually plated two runs when the ball got away in center field and Miller added an RBI single to round out the scoring later in the inning.
Addi DeMeyer allowed four runs on three hits over three innings for Rhinelander before leaving the circle with shoulder tightness.
"We pulled Addi purposely after the third inning," said coach DeMeyer, her father. "She wasn't doing terrible. It was a 4-0 game at that time. She had a couple walks, but she's got an arm we're a little concerned about. She's got some tightness in the shoulder and we're going to work that out. We just want to be careful with that and have her ready for playoffs."
Haenel allowed six runs on seven hits the rest of the way, and was cruising before getting tagged for five hits in the seventh.
"Laney pitched pretty well," coach DeMeyer said. "I'm proud of her for being a freshman and going against the No. 1 team in the conference, she did well. She did lose a little bit of command. I think she was getting tired. We've got to work on her stamina and fundamentals. She gets a little out of whack there but, overall, she pitched well. She's been doing well in practice and in the last couple of games we've put her in, she's done everything we've asked. She's got a lot of potential."
Meanwhile, Miller faced one over the minimum in a complete-game effort. Addi DeMeyer drew a walk on her in the first inning, but was erased trying to steal second. The Hodags did not have another base runner until the sixth inning when Maddi Roeser broke up Miller's no-hit bid with a leadoff bloop single to right.
"Their pitcher's good. She threw a one-hitter, probably had a dozen strikeouts (it was 10). She's good. We've got to have aggressive at-bats and we took a lot of strikes again today," coach DeMeyer said.
Rhinelander was scheduled to play at D.C. Everest last night in a game that concluded after deadline. The Hodags return to action Tuesday at Mosinee.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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