RHS softball routed in doubleheader by Medford

The Rhinelander High School softball team could not keep up with Medford in a doubleheader loss on the road Tuesday night.

The Hodags dropped Game 1 15-0 and then were downed 20-2 in the night cap. Big innings were the theme of the afternoon as Medford scored eight or more runs in three of the seven offensive innings it played during the twin bill.

“We just started off very sluggish tonight, which obviously dampened the mood, and I told the girls we just came off of an excellent game, an 0-1 game against Lakeland, and that’s what Medford’s thinking we’re going to bring for them,” Hodag coach Ali Bender said. “They could hit the ball. We did not hit the ball again tonight. We were keeping the ball in front of us in the first game. We did a nice job of keeping the ball in front of us and getting the ball in from the outfield. They just hit, one through nine. We just have got to do some better placement. We just have to talk better, know where we’re going with the ball in order to minimize those runs.”

Medford catcher Zayleah Leonhardt had big game in the opener, hitting a two-run double in the first inning and a three-run homer in the second to stake the Raiders to a 5-0 lead. She added another two-run double in the third as the Raiders plated 10 runs and eventually ended the game via the run-rule on a walk-off passed ball. 

Aleece Johnson recorded the lone hit off Medford starter Rylee Hraby, a two-out single in the top of the third inning, but was forced to leave the pitching circle in the bottom of the inning with what Bender described as discomfort in Johnson’s drag leg during her pitching motion. Johnson walked five, allowed five hits and struck out three in two-plus innings of work. Kendall Vanney closed out the game, allowing seven runs on four hits with a pair of walks in the third. 

“That kind of threw a wrench into things,” Bender said. “We had to pitch Vanney sooner than what we anticipated, which then led to Nevaeh (Anderson) and Vanney also pitching the second game.”

    Rhinelander’s Kadyn Taylor beats Medford’s Laney Hraby to first base for an out during the second inning of Game 1 of a GNC doubleheader at Medford Tuesday, April 29. (Matt Frey/Star News)
  

Medford tagged Vanney at the start of Game 2 as she was unable to make it out of the opening inning. The Raiders nearly batted around before recording their first out in the inning as the first eight batters reached safely on six singles, a double and a walk. Another double, followed by a single and a walk to the top three in the Medford order ended Vanney’s time in the circle. Anderson was able to get the Hodags out of the inning without any further damage. 

Defense, ultimately, plagued Anderson over her 3 1/3 innings of work. Rhinelander committed six errors in the second game, which led to three unearned runs in the third and seven unearned runs in the fourth as part of an eight-run frame for the Raiders. 

Rhinelander recorded three hits in Game 2 and snapped a 17-inning scoring drought in the third inning of the contest on a two-run double by senior Lucy Lindner, her second hit of the game. Cassidy Lindner also had a hit in Game 2. 

“In the second game, we were able to string together like three hits with a walk. And that’s what we have to do,” Bender said. “If we can put pressure on the defense, they made a lot of mistakes that inning. I told the girls if we can put girls on the bags, that gives them pressure. Now they’re feeling what we’re feeling and that’s going to change the game.

“We’re going to work on all those small things and just really we need to have the mentality of getting in that box and not thinking about it, and just trusting our eyes. With that will come base hits, not swinging for the fence just, right now, base hits.”

The busy stretch for the Hodags was scheduled to continue Thursday with a home doubleheader against Tomahawk that was set to begin after press time for today’s edition. Another twinbill is in the offing this coming Tuesday on the road at Antigo.  

Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].