Hodag softball wins opener

Hours before the early part of its season got turned upside down, the Rhinelander High School softball team won its first — and possibly only —game in the Hodag Dome this spring Saturday afternoon.

The Hodags scored in every inning and defeated Phillips 15-5 in non-conference play. It was supposed to be the first of three games over the weekend for the team, but an impending ice storm canceled Rhinelander’s contests Saturday night and Sunday morning. The Hodag Dome sustained significant damage due to a power failure during the ice storm early Sunday and is closed for an indefinite period of time. 

That was the furthest thing from the team’s mind on Saturday. Freshman Aleece Johnson impressed in her debut with a three-hit day at the plate and five strikeouts over three innings in the circle. The Hodags got hits from nine different players and outhit the Loggers 13-5. Rhinelander matched its win total from the entire 2024 season with the victory and scored its first win via the 10-run rule since a season-opening win over Boyceville in 2023. 

“That was kind of what we came out here to do, play as one and learn how to win, and just to get over that bump from last year,” coach Ali Bender said. “I mean, everyone right now, like I said, is looking at us as a program low as low gets. So just to come out and just score and 10-run ruling them, is just giving us that, like boost of energy, that boost of confidence. We can do this.”

Rhinelander (1-0, 0-0 Great Northern) scored four times in the bottom of the first to take the lead for good and then tacked on six more runs in the second as it built a 10-1 lead. The Hodags tacked on two more in the third and three in the fourth to lead 15-3. Despite giving up a couple of unearned runs to Phillips (1-1, 0-0 Marawood South) in the fifth, the Hodags were able to close out the game early.

The Hodags took advantage of some Phillips mistakes to build an early lead. A single, fielder’s choice, error and a stolen base gave Rhinelander runners at second and third with one out for cleanup hitter Kelsey Winter, who lifted a fly ball that was dropped in center field. The shot would have deep enough to score Lucy Lindner from third but Kadyn Taylor also scored from second thanks to the misplay. Rhinelander made Phillips further pay for the gaffe as back-to-back two-out RBI singles from freshman Saige Mutter and sophomore Cassidy Lindner made it 4-1. 

  

Rhinelander’s Kendall Vanney hits a couple during the second inning of a non-conference softball game against Phillips in the Hodag Dome Saturday, March 29. Vanney went 2-for-3 at the plate with three RBIs in the Hodags’ 15-5 win.

(Bob Mainhardt for the River News)
  

The Hodags hit the ball hard in the second. Johnson doubled and scored on a Taylor single and freshman Kendall Vanney hit a ground-rule double to right that scored Taylor and Winter. Everybody was safe after Phillips bobbled a two-out ground ball to short by Mutter and the Hodags cashed in on an RBI single by Cassidy Lindner and a two-run bloop single by Julia Gray to make it 10-1.

“We talked about winning each inning, and one of the things is winning on the bases,” Bender said. “If we’ve got a girl on second base, then we better score them. That is a scoring opportunity. If we leave a girl on second base, we talked about (it), that’s a loss. They’re in scoring position and we get them in anyway we possibly can. So that was kind of the mindset going in. ‘If I’m on second, I’m looking to score and that batter better get me in.’”

Johnson and Lucy Lindner both walked and scored in the third. A Taylor sacrifice fly to left scored Johnson and Lindner scored on a double to deep left center by Vanney. Johnson ended a home run short of the cycle in the contest, collecting an RBI triple in the fourth. She scored on a base hit from Lucy Lindner and Lindner scored all the way from first on another dropped fly ball to center off the bat of Winter. 

That was plenty of run support for Rhinelander’s two freshman hurlers. Johnson overcame some early jitters to work out of a jam in the first. Two walks and an RBI single by Annaka Tobias gave Phillips a 1-0 lead before an out was recorded. A hit batter loaded the bases with one out in the inning but Johnson avoided any further damage by striking out Mel Tingo and Macy Hartlein back-to-back. Johnson worked around a one-out walk in the second and allowed only one run in the third on an RBI ground out by Marlo Edwards. 

Johnson allowed just one hit over three innings as she picked up her first varsity win. Vanney pitched the final two innings. Much like Johnson’s first frame, Vanney worked out of a jam allowing only one run after loading the bases with one out. Ava Rathbun flagged down a line drive to left by Tobias and Dawsyn Barkus snagged a line drive to second by Raelee Williams to limit the damage. 

A pair of dropped balls on plays at the plate allowed Phillips to score twice in the fifth inning and get the game-extending run to third, but Vanney struck out Mataya Edwards before Cassidy Lindner made a strong play in the hole at short to retire Trinity Smith and in the contest. 

“Aleece started in the mount on the mound for us, and that was amazing. I mean, I knew she was going to come out with some jitters. I knew she was going to throw some balls. She wasn’t finishing at first, and I knew it was jitters, but again, she really held it in there for us,” Bender said. “Vanney came in to close and that was awesome. They kept our walks down to five walks. I mean, that’s huge compared to where we were last year at like 15, 20 walks a game. I think it just gave those girls on defense that, like boost of confidence, them being able to strike a few girls out, helped us get it out. It wasn’t always on the defense’s shoulders, so it was really nice to see that.”

Vanney and Cassidy Lindner each recorded two hits at the plate. Vanney drove in three runs while Taylor, Cassidy Lindner and Gray drove in two each. 

When and where Rhinelander’s next game takes place remains to be seen. The Hodags were to have played two games in the Dome Monday and had already planned to move Thursday’s game to Medford, field-conditions permitting. 

A game at Tomahawk next Tuesday was slated to be moved to Rhinelander as part of a quadrangular April 12, but that game was in limbo as of press time, as were scheduled home games against Antigo April 10 and Lakeland April 14. The Hodags are scheduled to travel to Northland Pines April 15. 

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].