Hodag softball falls in rematch against Northland Pines

EAGLE RIVER —The Rhinelander High School softball team came up short on Tuesday, looking to match its lone win so far in the 2024 season.

Four-run innings for the Eagles in the fourth and sixth were too much for the Hodags to overcome in an 11-5 loss in Eagle River.

Rhinelander (1-11, 1-7 Great Northern) got the bats going late, scoring four times in the final two innings, but it was too little to late as they tried to dig out from a large deficit. 

The Hodags have now dropped eight straight since defeating the Eagles 14-6 in Rhinelander April 4.

“Our biggest thing is we came (on) too late, again,” Hodag co-coach Sadie Adamski said. “That’s kind of been the thing we’ve been saying all year. We just came a little too late. We’ve just got to build the team morale, figure some stuff out. We’ve got Antigo on Friday. We’ve got a good two days to get in some practice.”

Rhinelander was very much in the game after one inning, something it hasn’t been able to say during it recent slide. The Hodags trailed 2-1 after giving up a two-run home run to Aubrey Beyer in the bottom of the first. However, the Eagles slowly chipped away before a couple of big innings. A dropped foul pop-up prolonged Aliyana Lopez’s time at bat in the third, and she made the Hodags pay with an RBI ground out that plated Beyer.

Back-to-back leadoff walks spelled trouble in the fourth. Natalie Kohn scored both free passes with a two-run double. The Hodags then intentionally walked Eagles’ slugger Carly Huelskamp, who hit two home runs in the first meeting against Rhinelander, but the move backfired as Alizari Gray followed with a two-run triple to right that gave the Eagles a 7-1 lead.

Forced to pitch to Huelskamp with two on and nobody out in the sixth, the senior delivered a three-run blast to left center that made it 10-1. Lopez walked and scored on a wild pitch later in the inning.

    Rhinelander’s Laney Haenel pitches during a GNC softball game against Northland Pines in Eagle River Tuesday, April 30. Haenel allowed seven runs on four hits over four innings as the Hodags fell to the Eagles, 11-5. (Jeremy Mayo/River News)
  

Laney Haenel took the loss for Rhinelander, allowing seven runs on four hits with seven walks and two strikeouts over four innings. Kelsey Winter allowed only one hit in two innings of relief — the home run to Huelskamp.

“Credit to Pines, they hit the ball,” Hodag co-coach Ali Bender said. “We started Laney. Laney pitched really well against Pines last time we played them. They were on to her. We threw Kelsey and, right after we threw Kelsey, they started hitting her as well. Pines put the ball in play so we had to make plays behind, and we didn’t make all of them. Unfortunately, we didn’t hit as well on them and we ended up on the losing side of it.”

Rhinelander struck first in the contest. Chase Verbist led off the game with a double and then scored on an overthrow following a sacrifice bunt by Lucy Lindner. 

The Hodags didn’t score again until the sixth as Nevaeh Anderson smacked a two-out single that scored Lily Treder. Rhinelander tried to mount a two-out rally in the seventh. Verbist walked and scored when Treder’s single to left was misplayed. Libbey Buchmann followed with a two-run double. 

Lindner had three hits and Treder singled twice as the Hodags outhit the Eagles, 8-5.

“We have some really strong hitters right now that, when they’re up to bat, they’re ready to get after it,” Adamski said. “They’ve been doing a fantastic job for our team. That’s why you keep kind of seeing the lineup changing. We’re happy how girls are hitting the ball.”

The loss dropped Rhinelander into a sixth-place tie in the conference with the Eagles with four games remaining in the regular season. The Hodags travel to Antigo tonight. The Red Robins beat the Hodags 19-0 last Friday in Rhinelander.

“I think our biggest goal is to just keep improving,” Bender said. “That’s the biggest thing. We talked tonight about cheering each other on, being good teammates. Sometimes we are lacking at that. You saw the girls really come alive that last inning with two outs when we started putting runners on. No matter what, down or up, we’ve still got to be good teammates. That will help us.

“We know we’ve got tough competition coming up, no doubt. We just want to keep making improvements. We talked about how we cut the Medford score in half from the first time we played them. To me, that’s an improvement. Tonight, I felt like we took a step back but we’ve still got to continue to grow. You’re going to have those peaks and valleys throughout the season. It’s been very apparent this year.”

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].