Hodag softball falls to Tomahawk 12-1

TOMAHAWK — The Rhinelander High School softball team has been going through a rough patch, having lost four straight games by a combined margin of 81-10. Though the Hodags suffered their fifth straight loss on Tuesday, the game felt like some progress in the right direction for the team.

A couple of big innings ultimately led to a 12-1 loss in five innings at Tomahawk. However, the game marked the first time since a win April 4 against Northland Pines that Rhinelander made it out of the third inning still playing. The Hodags got a couple of scoreless innings defensively and had some productive at-bats, with a number of hard-hit balls that traveled right in the general direction of the Hatchet defense.

“We really didn’t have many negatives to say tonight because I think, overall, that was our most improved game,” Hodag co-coach Sadie Adamski said. “We were making the plays. We knew where to go to the ball. We were hitting the ball, we were just hitting it right to them. We weren’t hitting the gaps like they were.”

First-inning woes still plagued Rhinelander (1-8, 1-4 Great Northern). Tomahawk batted around in the home half of the opening inning, aided by three walks, a hit batter, a passed ball on a dropped third strike and an error. That, and four hits, helped Tomahawk jump out to an early 8-0 lead.

“It all comes down to the first inning, as we keep saying,” Adamski said. “If in the first inning we eliminate some passed balls, eliminate some mental errors, eliminate some walks, we’re right in that game.”

Rhinelander got on the board in the fourth inning as Libbey Buchmann doubled down the left field line and scored on a two-out base hit by Nora Rutkowski. The Hodags ended with five hits in the game, the same as Tomahawk, and freshman Chase Verbist tallied a pair of singles for Rhinelander.

There were also a number of hard hit ground balls and line drives caught by defenders. With only five strikeouts in the game, co-coach Ali Bender said the bats are coming around and, with a little luck, the team will start finding holes in the defense. 

“If we keep putting the ball in play, eventually, you’re going to hit the gaps,” she said. “Eventually, the other team is going to start making mistakes. We just talked about keeping that confidence with hitting the ball. Tonight we hit the ball and it went right toward somebody and you’re like, ‘darn it!’ But, the thing is, eventually they’re going to hit the gaps. Eventually, they will make errors. The more we put the ball in play, the better it’s going to get.”

Kelsey Winter took the loss for Rhinelander, giving up eight runs (four earned) on four hits over two-thirds of an inning. Laney Haenel came in and got a pop out to end the first inning, and then retired Tomahawk in order in the second. She nearly did it again in the third, allowing a two-out walk before getting a fly out to end the frame.

Tomahawk used some small ball to score four times in the fourth thanks to a walk, a couple of fielder’s choices, a sacrifice bunt, an RBI groundout and a wild pitch.

“She came to play,” Adamski said of Haenel’s pitching performance. “I think, everyday with our pitchers it’s different. Some girls are on, some girls aren’t. That just kind of how it’s been going. She came in, kind of like that Pines game, and did what she had to do and it was good to see that.”

    Rhinelander’s Willow Mutter prepares to make a catch in right field during the second inning of a GNC softball game at Tomahawk Tuesday, April 23. (Jeremy Mayo/River News)
  

Rhinelander also committed only one error in the game, a bit of a feat considering a strong wind blowing in from left field made fielding fly balls an adventure.

“Our girls were getting under the ball and talking. That’s our biggest thing,” Adamski said. “There were a lot of infield pop flies tonight and I’m super happy that our girls were talking, listening to each other, calling them off. Some of those balls in the outfield started just spinning one way or the other from the wind, our outfielders did a good job tonight.”

The Hodags were scheduled to host Antigo Thursday in a game that concluded after press time for today’s edition. Weather permitting, Rhinelander is slated to go to Medford for another GNC game this afternoon.

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].