Hodag softball falls to Tomahawk on senior day

The Rhinelander High School softball team had a couple of bright spots in its final home game of the season, but a pair of error-aided two-out rallies were too much for the Hodags to overcome in a 13-2 loss to Tomahawk Tuesday at Andrea Musson Field.

The Hodags nearly climbed back out of the run-rule threshold after spotting the Hatchets 12 runs over the first three innings. Rhinelander closed within 12-2 in the fourth, but Tomahawk added an insurance run in the fifth while the Hodags went down in order.

However, the Hodags coaching staff said it was pleased with the effort, which nearly equalled a 12-1 loss at Tomahawk back on April 23.

“I think we were making good defensive plays. I think we were hitting the ball, but kind of how it’s been going, we were hitting it right to people,” co-coach Sadie Adamski said. “We just talked to the girls after and said, ‘You know what? You just keep making contact and plays are going to happen.’ We’re going to hit gaps, people are going to overthrow. You have to make the defense play and putting the ball in play was a big one.”

Scout Stromberg finished 3-for-4 for Tomahawk and a double short of the cycle. She got the Hatchets going with a two-run homer to left center in the first. The floodgates opened after a two-out throwing error allowed the inning to continue. The Hatchets added RBI singles from Khianna Vacho and Bella Marino, Emerson Lange scored on a wild pitch and Marino scored after beating a throw home on a Sammy Gebauer grounder. 

A one-out error led to two more Tomahawk runs in the second after Lange blooped a two-out single to right, allowing Averi Petta and Macy Jankewicz to score. Petta then cleared the bases with an error-aided round-tripper in the third. She singled home Sara Gebauer and Sammy Gebauer and moved to second on the throw. Both she and Stromberg scored following an overthrow on the play.

That ended senior Laney Haenel’s time in the circle. She allowed 12 runs, but only four earned, on nine hits over 2 1/3 innings. Kelsey Winter struck out three over the final 2 2/3 innings, allowing just a run. Stromberg tripled off of her and scored on a Vacho single in the fifth.

Overall, the Hodag pitching staff issued only three walks, a season-best.

“Our pitchers did good tonight, both of them,” Adamski said. “Kelsey came in, Laney started off good. We were throwing strikes. We didn’t throw a lot of wild pitches. We can’t complain about that.”

Rhinelander got on the board in the bottom of the third as Lucy Lindner drew a two-out walked and scored when Chase Verbist doubled to deep left. The Hodags added one more run in the fourth as Kadyn Taylor hit a leadoff single and came around on an RBI groundout by senior Sadie Houghton, a moment that brought the Hodag dugout to its feet.

“She’s been a very positive influence in our program, has never had a bad attitude about where she’s played, has made huge improvements throughout her high school career playing softball,” co-coach Ali Bender said of Houghton. “She’s just somebody who’s truly here to play the game and loves the game. I think tonight, for her, that was awesome to see.”

Two of Rhinelander’s other seniors, Lily Treder and Nora Rutkowski, added hits in the contest. The team’s four seniors were all honored after Tuesday’s game. The coaches thanks the quartet for their dedication to the program.

“All four of them are fantastic girls,” Adamski said. “They’re great students and athletes. That’s really what we want to strive for here in Rhinelander, having good student-athletes. I think they had a fun year with us. We had a fun year with them. It’s super sad to see them go but we’re both so excited to see what their future holds. They all have such bright futures ahead of them. I think it’s going to be really cool to see what they do.”

Added Bender, “They’ve been dedicated to our program, the Rhinelander community. People know them in the community. Most of them have played four years and have been asked to play many positions in those four years. They’ve been asked to step up. They’ve influenced their younger peers. Just everything you can ask for in a team, they have brought to our team.”

The Hodags (1-15, 1-11 Great Northern) traveled to Merrill to open the WIAA tournament Thursday in a game that was scheduled to conclude after press time for today’s edition. The winner of that game will travel to second-seeded New London on Tuesday.

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].