Team preview: RHS softball

The Rhinelander High School softball team opens its 2024 season today and tomorrow with three games inside the Hodag Dome during the Danny Mac Softball Classic. The hope for first-year coaches Ali Bender and Sadie Adamski is how the squad looks on the final day of the season is different than it was on opening day.

That may end up being true from a personnel standpoint, but the coaches hope that also shows in the talent level as well as the Hodags try to rebuild a squad that lost a number of key pieces from a team that went 10-14 last year, finished tied for fourth in the GNC, and pushed the top-ranked team in Division 2, Medford, to extra innings before falling. 

“I think you’re going to see girls come up. I think you’re going to see girls go down. I think it’s going to be very fluid overall,” Bender said of the team’s varsity and JV rosters. “We’re going to have a lot of movement. There are a lot of girls we want to try in different positions. Girls that are working hard, we’re looking for. Girls that are improving everyday, girls that can hit the ball.”

Added Adamski, “There’s really not more than two set spots on that (lineup). It’s going to change.”

The two take over as co-head coaches in their second year overall on the coaching staff. Both served as JV coaches last year and were promoted after D.J. DeMeyer stepped down at season’s end.

The biggest question mark going into the season is at pitcher. While the Hodags have a number of different options, it remains to be seen if any can come close to replicating the production of Addi DeMeyer, who went 8-11 with two saves and a 3.07 ERA while accumulating 184 strikeouts over 120 2/3 innings.

The good news is a number of the possible replacements saw some varsity action last year. Senior Laney Haenel returns with the most experience. She shouldered the bulk of the innings two years ago while DeMeyer dealt with an ankle injury and last year was 2-2 with a 14.00 ERA with 13 strikeouts and 38 walks over 19 innings. A pair of sophomores — Libbey Buchmann (0-0, 7.64 ERA, 3 2/3 IP) and Nevaeh Anderson (0-1, 31.50 ERA, 2 2/3 IP), saw limited varsity innings last season and junior Kelsey Winter also figures to be in the rotation this year. 

Bender categorized the staff as a platoon situation that could vary from game to game, even inning to inning. 

“All of our pitchers have a chance,” she said. “They have an opportunity to go out and prove themselves … I think you’re going to see them all rotating. I think you’re going to see maybe two innings here, two innings there. You might see four innings and two innings. Instead of thinking about a whole game being pitched, I think we’re going to look at almost a starter and a closer. 

“They don’t all throw the same speed. They don’t all throw the same pitches. To be able to throw other teams off using that, I think, is going to be key for us.”

On the other end of the battery, the Hodags are replacing senior Maddi Roeser who hit .281 with 21 RBIs last spring. Sophomore Kadyn Taylor, who hit .467 (7 for 15) in limited varsity action last season, has emerged early on as the primary candidate for the job.

“She’s becoming a big leader on the team and she’s a jungle cat. She’s beast mode when it’s game time,” Adamski said. “She’s been working really hard. We have other people who can catch if need be, but Kadyn is also one of our best bats. With her showing up to practices, being a leader, showing us that, ‘Hey, I’m here to play, I’m here to hit a ball, I’m here to command and infield.’ She can see the whole field and we need someone who knows the game. Getting to work with her this past week and today was really fun for us. We’re seeing her improve so much, especially on that leader aspect.”

Otherwise, the team returns 10 players who saw action for the Hodags during GNC play last year, led by a pair of returning all-conference players in senior Lily Treder and junior Lucy Lindner. 

Treder was the team’s top hitter last year, going .397 with 15 RBIs. She also played a key role in centerfield that included a game-saving catch in the Hodags’ 1-0 victory over Shawano in the opening round of the WIAA tournament.

“She’s one of our best hitters, one of our best outfielders, can play the infield,” Bender said. “I think we need to look at her as a leader this year. She really needs to set the tone for these players and she needs to be talking, constantly letting the girls know where to go. My hope for her is she can control that outfield.”

Lindner hit .273 in conference games and .242 overall while holding down an infield spot at either shortstop or third base. Other returning varsity players include senior Nora Rutkowski, juniors Kelsi Beran and Dawsyn Barkus and sophomore Willow Mutter.

In Addi DeMeyer, Roeser and Abigale Johnson, the Hodags graduated three of the top four hitters from a lineup that was already fifth out of seven teams in the GNC in runs per game (4.3) and batting average (.234). Bender said getting runners on base will be key for the Hodags this year, doing so may take some creativity.

“We really haven’t played this type of ball in the past as much, small ball. We need to put the ball in situations and make those other teams play the ball,” she said. “I think you’ll see us bunting. I think we’re going to be a big bunting team. The more you put the ball in play, the more you make them make the mistake.”

Going into the year, Bender and Adamski said depth and versatility are team strengths. With a number of players either coming up from junior varsity or coming in as freshmen, they expect the lineup to evolve as the season progresses.

That’s part of the importance of this weekend’s opening games in the Danny Mac. Adamski said the team is likely to have as many as 14 players up on the varsity roster during the tournament and all of them will likely see innings and at-bats over the course of the three-game weekend.

“I think it’s going to be a really good experience,” she said. “We’re bringing a crowd and it’s going to be fun to see how they play in a live game — especially some of our athletes who may have never played varsity. You just never truly know how people play in a game until you see them play in a game, which is going to be really exciting for us to coach and watch.”

Barring any additions later in the season, this weekend’s tournament will be the only non-conference games of the spring for the Hodags. Weather permitting, Rhinelander will open the Great Northern Conference slate on the road at Medford this coming Tuesday. While the Raiders graduated conference player of the year Martha Miller along with four other all-conference selections, Medford and the rest of the upper-echelon of the GNC figure to remain strong this year. 

“Our conference will be tough. It always is,” Bender said. “Mosinee always brings a good team. Medford always brings a good team. Tomahawk has been up. They’ve got a couple of really nice players on Pines. No matter what, we’ve got to come with our A-game every day and we have to hit the ball. I don’t think our conference is going to be easy by any means and we just need to be ready to play.”

Given all of that, success this season for the Hodags will likely not be strictly measured in the win and loss columns. Adamski said it will be a matter of how well the team — and the individual players — grow throughout the course of the spring. 

“I think the biggest think we want to see out of this team is just improvement throughout and becoming a true team,” she said. “We don’t want to see people trying to be all-stars and not be team players. We’re trying to build a program and we want to continue to build our program as high as we can go. I think, for the most part, we’re also trying to build leaders and trying to build all-around players. The more and more we can get these girls who are versatile, they can hit the ball, the know how to play the game and how to run the bases, our program is just going to continue to go up and up.”

Rhinelander opens play in the Danny Mac Tournament against Clintonville at 6 p.m. If the Hodags lose, they will play once more tonight and play at 10:45 tomorrow morning. With a win, Rhinelander would play at 9 a.m. tomorrow and again at 12:30 p.m. 

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].

TEAM SCHEDULE

Date    Opponent/Event    Time

3/22    DANNY MAC INVITE    6 p.m.

3/23    DANNY MAC INVITE    TBD

3/26    at Medford*    5 p.m.

4/2    at Antigo*    5 p.m.

4/4    NORTHLAND PINES*    5 p.m.

4/11    at Mosinee*    5 p.m.

4/16    LAKELAND*    5 p.m.

4/18    MEDFORD*    5 p.m.

4/23    at Tomahawk*    5 p.m.

4/25    ANTIGO*    5 p.m.

4/30    at Northland Pines*    5 p.m.

5/7    MOSINEE*    5 p.m.

5/9    at Lakeland*    5 p.m.

5/14    TOMAHAWK*    5 p.m.

5/16    WIAA Regionals    TBD

* Conference Games | HOME GAMES IN CAPS