April 3, 2023 at 8:19 a.m.
Everest sweeps RHS softball
RHS competitive in Game 2 following blowout
Everest sweeps RHS softball
Though the Hodags also lost the second game, how they responded from Game 1 gave coach D.J. DeMeyer reason for optimism.
Rhinelander was blown out 19-0 in the first game at the Hodag Dome but played a much more competitive game in the nightcap, falling 6-3.
"They came out the second game and it was a character check, and they passed," coach DeMeyer said.
Everest ace Addison Kluck fanned eight of the nine batters she faced in Game 1, pitching a three-inning perfect game.
The Hodags found themselves trailing 4-0 in the top of the second with the bases clear and two outs when everything went wrong. Sixteen straight batters reached base after that -mainly via a combination of walks and errors, leading to a 14-run inning that put the Evergreens up 17-0. Everest tacked on two more runs in the third inning.
"I quit looking at the score," coach DeMeyer admitted. "The first game I was pretty disappointed in our team. We came out flat. We weren't active. We weren't ready to go. That's kind of how practice went this week. We talked about that after the first game ... We said forget about that game, let's move on, let's see what we got."
Rhinelander responded right away as the visiting team in Game 2. Abigale Johnson led off with a single and scored on a double by Addi DeMeyer to give the Hodags a 1-0 lead.
"Abigale Johnson, she started it off with a base hit and hit the ball hard," coach DeMeyer said. "The first at-bat, you get a hit, that lifts everybody up. We built on that. I know we only scored three runs in the game, but we had opportunities to score more."
The Hodags had that contest tied 3-3 after 3 1/2 innings but, ultimately how the teams fared in bases-loaded situations decided the outcome.
Libbey Buchmann singled home Addi DeMeyer to tie the game in the top of the fourth, and Willow Mutter drew a walk with one out to load the bases - but Dawsyn Barkus struck out and Johnson grounded out sharply to short as the Hodags were unable to take the lead.
Addi DeMeyer gave up a single and a pair of walks to load the bases with nobody out in the bottom of the inning. Everest's Kelsey Woolley and Caitlyn Kressel delivered back-to-back RBI groundouts that gave the Evergreens the lead for good.
Rhinelander loaded the bases with nobody out in the top of the fifth, but Lucy Lindner struck out, Laney Haenel popped out in a pinch-hit role and Buchmann grounded out as the Hodags came up empty.
"We get a couple of runs with bases loaded when we have nobody out (it's a different game). We should be getting a couple runs in," coach DeMeyer said.
Miscues plagued the Hodags early in Game 2 as the first three runs Addi DeMeyer allowed were unearned. Sydney Spear reached base and scored off a pair of errors by the Hodag infield to tie the game in the bottom of the first. A dropped fly ball allowed the inning to continue in the second. Kali Rutta hit a sacrifice fly for the second out of the inning and Woolley followed with an RBI single to make it 3-1.
Maddi Roeser drove in Barkus on a ground out to make it 3-2 in the third, but that ended up being an inning-ending double play after Johnson was cut down trying to take an extra base and advance to third.
Rhinelander had seven hits in Game 2 against Everest's No. 2 pitcher Kelsey Meverden after putting only one ball in play in the first contest against Kluck. Coach DeMeyer said a change in the approach at the plate had as much to do with the Hodags' improvement as a change in pitcher.
"We were able to get some hits but, part of that was because we looked tentative and scared that first game against (Kluck)," he said. "We can't do that. She still has to throw the ball across the plate, and we still have to attack it. They decided to attack the ball."
Addi DeMeyer dropped to 2-2 on the season. She went 2 innings in game one, allowing eight hits and five walks. Pulled after 1 2/3 innings, she eventually came back on to finish the second after Haenel was unable to retire any of the 10 batters she faces. DeMeyer allowed 10 runs, all earned, and struck out three.
In Game 2, DeMeyer gave up six runs, three earned, on five hits over 4 1/3 innings. She struck out two and walked two.
"We had some walks that they scored on. I said that to Addi," coach DeMeyer said. "We can't walk runners, and she knows that. She threw a lot of pitches today. She threw a lot in that first game. We finally pulled her, and then she gut-checked it the second game and held them in check for five innings."
Buchmann finished the second game in the circle, getting all five batters she faced to ground out. She and Johnson each recorded two hits at the plate in Game 2, while Addi DeMeyer was 3 for 4 with two doubles and an RBI.
The Hodags (2-3, 0-0 Great Northern) were scheduled to host Antigo today, but that game has been postponed with the outdoor fields not ready and the turf fields unavailable at the Hodag Dome due to being used by the City of Rhinelander to conduct today's general election.
Thursday's Great Northern Conference game at Northland Pines has been moved to the Hodag Dome, and will precede another weekend tournament for the Hodags.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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