Hodag softball wins thriller at home, struggles on the road

The Rhinelander High School softball team’s flair for the dramatic was on display once again at home Monday afternoon.

After scoring two runs in the bottom of the seventh to tie the Hatchets, the Hodags held Tomahawk scoreless in extra innings before Ruby Plamann sent one to left field to score Chase Verbist in the bottom of the ninth to lift the Hodags to a 5-4 win at the Haug Family Softball Complex.

    Rhinelander’s Ruby Plamann pelts a pitch to left field, sealing the comeback win for the Hodags in the ninth inning of a GNC softball game against Tomahawk Monday, April 20 at the Haug Family Softball Complex. (Blake Richard/River News)
  

Plamann was 0-for-3 in her first three at-bats, but delivered when it mattered most. Occupying the box with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Plamann said her mindset was “I better hit this ball. I need contact right now.” 

The seventh inning brought a similar situation for Plamann. With Kadyn Taylor and Saige Mutter in scoring position and the Hodags down 4-2, again with two outs, Plamann sent a ball out of the infield for her first hit of the night, scoring both Taylor and Mutter to tie the back-and-forth game.

“It was a good game. I was, like, really proud of how we stayed neck and neck with (Tomahawk),” she said. 

Tomahawk got off to a hot start with runs right off the bat, but the Hodags were always able to answer and put an eventual exclamation point on the outcome.  

Head coach Ali Bender said similar things about the team’s identity so far this season. The win was Rhinelander’s third walkoff of the year. 

“Even if we get down, we’re not done, we always have that chance to come back and win,” she said. “We’ve just talked about how most of our games we’ve been behind this year, and we’ve rallied back to come back and win ... just finding a way, that’s what we’ve done all year.” 

Verbist went 3-for-5 against the Hatchets, helping the offensive campaign battle back for Rhinelander. Taylor was 2-for-4, and had a crucial sacrifice bunt in the ninth to push Verbist into scoring position. Taylor also scored two runs in the game, including the first of two during the two-out rally in the seventh after she worked a walk to get on base.

    Rhinelander’s Aleece Johnson pitches during a GNC softball game against Tomahawk Monday, April 20 at the Haug Family Softball Complex. Johnson had three shutout innings in the seventh, eighth, and ninth to leave the door open for Rhinelander’s bats. (Blake Richard/River News)
  

Aleece Johnson took circle operations for the Hodags, walking three Hatchets and striking out seven. Two earned runs for Tomahawk came on five hits. 

“I’m super proud of (her),” Bender said. “To be honest with you, she’s been our workhorse for now the last couple weeks with (Kendall Vanney) being out, and it’ll be nice to have some of that pressure, you know, off her shoulders when Vanney gets back. But I think the biggest thing with (Johnson) is, after the first inning, she just seems to get better. Every single inning, she’s getting better, and I think that’s what makes you a pitcher is working through maybe a tough inning, and then coming back out, and also just having that open communication, like, this pitch is working and this one isn’t. But overall, she’s just been great. And I’m super proud of her to hang in there, knowing that there’s not somebody behind her right now to maybe back her up ... so I think just that pressure in general, she’s handling really well.”

Leadoff Hatchet Anita Ziert took Johnson’s first pitch of the game to right center, starting the initial two-run punch for Tomahawk in the first inning. Their final pair of runs came in the sixth, putting the pressure on Johnson and the rest of the Hodags. But Johnson and her defense didn’t flinch, they retired each Hatchet they faced in the seventh, eighth, and ninth, keeping the bases clear for their own scoring. 

The top of the seventh inning’s three up three down sequence, against the top of the Tomahawk order, was saved when first baseperson Taylor gloved a steaming grounder down the first base line to finish the inning on an unassisted putout. Three up, three down, followed for the Hodag defense in the eighth and ninth before Plamann put the nail in the coffin and Rhinelander walked away with the win heading into a matchup with last season’s conference champion. 

Mosinee 19, Rhinelander 0

After a comeback win over Tomahawk, the Hodags struggled with the firepower of Mosinee, going hitless against the Indians and giving up 19 runs in five innings. 

Bender said the team will use their loss as a model for how to advance their own program in the future. 

“If we want to compete at a level like they do we just have to keep working every day to get better,” she said. “Staying after practice, coming in the winter, playing in the summer, just taking those extra opportunities and wanting to be there.” 

Bender said will push her team towards the level they want to achieve. 

“We can either win and keep competing or we can throw in the towel, and I think these girls want to (keep competing). That’s the biggest thing is they want to win, they want to compete, and I think that’s what you’re going to see them continue to do. I mean, a lot of games we’ve come from behind to win. So that tells me that they don’t quit,” Bender said. 

 The Hodags began the latter half of their regular season with a home game against Lakeland on April 23. Conclusion of press time for this edition will push results for that game to the April 28 edition of River News. Rhinelander faces another tough contest this coming Tuesday when it hosts another conference unbeaten, Medford.

Blake Richard may be reached via email at [email protected].