April 4, 2022 at 9:00 a.m.
Softball: Hodag bats silenced by Everest, New London in home triangular
Softball: Hodag bats silenced by Everest, New London in home triangular
Reigning Wisconsin Valley Conference champions D.C. Everest outdueled Rhinelander 3-0 in the first game of the triangular and perennial Division 2 power New London routed the Hodags 11-1 in the nightcap.
Rhinelander (2-2, 0-0 Great Northern) mustered only one run on seven hits between the two games on Thursday, after scoring 22 runs in a pair of games six days earlier when it defeated Marathon and Shawano.
The Hodags faced strong pitching in both contests, preparing the team for what it will likely face in a deep Great Northern Conference.
"That's exactly what I want because our conference has got good pitching. We got good pitching, so we might as well get used to it," coach D.J. DeMeyer said.
DeMeyer said Thursday's scores mirrored the Hodags' energy in the two contests. Rhinelander hung with D.C. Everest the entire contest but fell into an early hole against the Bulldogs and could never recover.
"We've just got to get better. We've got to get better defensively," he said. "We've got to get better offensively. We got to play the game right and that's what I told the girls. We didn't play the game right the second game. We'll work on that on Monday."
D.C. Everest 3, Rhinelander 0
Kiera Hammond hit a home run and two Everest pitchers combined on a three-hitter as the Evergreens shut out the Hodags in the opening contest.
Everest did all of its damage in the third inning as Brianna Cook walked, stole two bases and scored when Sydney Spear reached on an error to short. Three pitches later Hammond took a 1-1 offering by Addi DeMeyer deep over the center field fence for a two-run blast that accounted for the game's final score.
It was one of only four hits the Hodag junior allowed in the contest, but it proved to be the difference.
"We had one bad inning with a walk, and error and then a home run and we should have been out of that inning before the home run, but that's just the way it goes," coach DeMeyer said. "If we would have lost, it's probably a 1-0 game. I thought we competed well. I was proud of the girls."
Addi DeMeyer (1-1) struck out nine and walked five over seven innings as she took the loss.
Rhinelander could not muster much offense as only three batters reached in the contest. Senior Annika Johnson, who missed the team's first two games, collected a pair of hits - the only two that Everest senior hurler Paige Kislow allowed over five innings as she earned the victory.
"She's a gamer, isn't she," D.J. DeMeyer said of Johnson. "She likes to come and play. She has fun. She smiles. She works hard. I was happy to see that, and she plays a real good first base."
Freshman Paige Kluck struck out four over the final two innings for Everest to earn the save. A one-out hit in the seventh by Maddi Roeser was the only blemish on her pitching line.
New London 11, Rhinelander 1
The Bulldogs jumped on the Hodags for five runs in the first inning and never looked back, eventually taking care of Rhinelander in five innings via the 10-run rule.
"We didn't come ready to play," coach DeMeyer said. "I was disappointed in the girls' defensive effort, lack of movement. We've talked about, after every pitch you've got to move three steps. They weren't doing that. There was a lack of focus, I think, at times and it showed. Don't get me wrong, New London's a good team. They're in our regional this year. They're going to be tough to beat."
All five New London runs in the first were unearned, keyed by a dropped fly ball in center that allowed Emma Reismann to reach with nobody out. Molly Kable scored on a wild pitch and Reismann came around as Maribel Glodowski grounded into a double play. Six straight New London batters reached after that against sophomore Laney Haenel, including RBI singles from Sommer Krull and Shelby Glodowski and a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch to Kable.
New London tacked on one more in the second thanks to a wild pitch and three more in the third keyed by an RBI double from Reismann and an infield RBI single by Maribel Glodowski. A dropped third strike and a bunt single turned into two more runs in the fourth when Kelsie Hamel singled in a run and Kable followed with an RBI groundout.
Rhinelander strung together some offense in the third as Lily Treder reached on an infield hit and scored on an Abigale Johnson single. The Hodags eventually loaded the bases with one out, but were unable to tag and score on a fly out to center by Addi DeMeyer and Kelsi Beran struck out to end the threat.
Haenel and Addi DeMeyer alternated innings in the circle. Haenel (1-1) worked the first, third and fifth allowing eight runs on seven hits with five walks and a strikeout. DeMeyer allowed three runs on three hits over the second and fourth innings.
Kendall Heise worked two innings of scoreless relief in the win for New London. Autumn Winkelman started and allowed a run on three hits with four strikeouts over four innings.
Up next
Rhinelander was scheduled to travel to Lakeland on Tuesday, but that game has been postponed. The Hodags will host Northland Pines on Thursday in GNC play.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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