6-0 at GNC halfway point, Raiders get big one at Mosinee

MEDFORD SOFTBALL

The Medford Raiders are halfway to an undefeated run through the Great Northern Conference softball season after a 4-0 win at rival Mosinee on Tuesday afternoon.

The Raiders got the only run they’d need in the first inning, but tacked on three more in the fifth to put away the Indians, who have likely fallen out of GNC title contention with their second loss of the week and a 3-3 record. Mosinee split a doubleheader with Lakeland on Monday.

Martha Miller was solid as usual in the pitching circle, striking out seven and working around six hits and two walks. Medford got what it could out of its six hits against Mosinee pitchers Ava Busse and Addy Strejc.

Medford head coach Virgil Berndt said the offensive performance was actually one of Medford’s best of the year with solid contact, a clutch two-out hit in the first inning and big bunt by Chelsea Gebauer in the fifth.

“We were much better,” Berndt said. “We hit the ball hard, even our outs were hit hard.”

At 13-0 overall, Medford sits atop the Wisconsin Fastpitch Coaches Association/ WisSports.net Division 2 state rankings for the second straight week.

Medford’s first run came when Finley Arndt walked, stole second and scored on Zayleah Leonhardt’s base hit. The Indians put constant pressure on Medford’s defense over the next five innings, but Miller and the Raiders always responded.

The Indians got runners to second and third in the bottom of the first with one out, but Miller struck out Ember Akers and got Daisy Spink to fly out. Mosinee again had two on with one out in the second, but two pop flies ended the threat. An error and wild pitch put Alanna Bembenek on second with one out in the third, but two strikeouts stranded her. A ground ball got the Raiders out of a twoon, two-out jam in the fourth. The Indians again had two on with one out in the fifth, but Miller retired Spink on a fly ball and Maggie Woller on a comebacker.

By that time, the Raiders were up 4-0 thanks to their rally in the top half of the inning. Tori Konieczny led off the inning with a single and an error on Gebauer’s sacrifice bunt chased home Konieczny. Gebauer scored Miller’s groundout and Arndt singled, stole second and wound up scoring on Allie Paulson’s sacrifice fly.

Leonhardt went two for three to lead Medford’s offense, while Miller, Arndt, Eryka Seidl and Konieczny had a hit apiece. Arndt scored twice.

The Raiders had their chances too to break the game open. Paulson lined out into a double play in the third and Arndt lined out into one in the seventh to kill rallies and Mosinee third baseman Alanna Bembenek robbed Seidl of a potential run-scoring hit in the fourth.

Busse went five innings and took the loss for Mosinee. She gave up all six hits, struck out three, walked one and allowed four runs, two of which were earned.

The win puts Medford at 6-0 in league play, with Antigo (3-1) and Lakeland (22) still in the championship chase discussion. Medford hosts Lakeland today, Thursday, at 4:30 p.m. for those teams’ first meeting of the season. Medford sees Mosinee again at home on Monday at 5 p.m. and then goes to Tomahawk and Lakeland on May 4 and 5.

Medford 11, Pines 1

On Friday, heavy underdog Northland Pines hung with Medford through the first three innings before the Raiders pulled away with a two-run fourth and five-run fifth to clinch an 11-1 win in a game played on the Raider Field turf.

Ava Hartl led Medford’s offense by going three for three with four runs batted in, while Seidl was three for four with three RBIs. Medford had 11 hits off Northland Pines starter Aubrey Beyer, whose defense let her down in the later stages.

The Eagles got five hits off Miller and had a chance to do some early damage by loading the bases with two outs in the first inning before Medford’s ace got out of the jam with a strikeout. The Eagles got a run with another two-out threat in the third, getting an RBI single from Grace Pastorius, driving in Tommie Springer, who had doubled.

Otherwise, Miller struck out eight and walked one in the cold conditions with the walk being intentional in the third inning.

That run by Pines cut Medford’s lead to 3-1. The Raiders got those runs in the first, getting an RBI bloop single from Seidl that fell in no-man’s land in shallow centerfield and a two-run looping single by Hartl that found open space in shallow right.

The Raiders left the bases loaded in a scoreless second inning and got a sacrifice fly from Morgan Huegli in the third to go up 4-1. In the fourth, Paulson beat out an infield single with one out and got to third with two outs after a Leonhardt groundout. She scored on Seidl’s single to left. Seidl got to second on an error by the leftfielder and courtesy runner Ruthie Steinman scored on Hartl’s double to the gap in right-center, making it 6-1.

The big fifth inning started with Huegli reaching on an error. Jada Surek was hit by a pitch. A wild pitch put the runners on second and third and Huegli scored on Gebauer’s infield hit. An error on a ball hit by Paulson scored Hope Faude, who was running for Surek, and Leonhardt’s base hit scored Gebauer to make it 9-1. Seidl drove in a run with an infield hit and Hartl’s single drove in the clinching run that ended the game by the 10-run rule.

Beyer, a junior, finished with two strikeouts for Pines and walked six. She hit one. Springer was three for three with three doubles and a run scored.

Raiders 13, Hodags 3

The Raiders got an early scare in the Hodag Dome Thursday, falling behind Rhinelander 3-1 in the first two innings, but once they got the lead, they put the clamps on the Hodags quickly and rolled to a 13-3, six-inning win.

Miller did not allow an earned run while striking out 11 and walking one. An error extended the top of the first inning, allowing Rhinelander’s clean-up hitter Addi DeMeyer to get an at-bat and she launched a two-run homer to dead center to put the Hodags up 2-0.

The Raiders, playing as the hosts, loaded the bases in the bottom of the first but only got Seidl’s sacrifice fly out of it after DeMeyer relieved Libby Buchman after Buchman faced just two batters, walking one and hitting one. The Hodags tacked on an unearned run and held Medford scoreless in the second inning.

Clutch hits, though, have been huge for Medford in tight spots so far this season and the Raiders got two of them in the third to take the lead for good.

Leonhardt singled with one out. Surek walked with two out and Tori Konieczny was hit by a pitch to bring up Gebauer. She dropped a looper into shallow left that knocked in pinch runners Emily Kiselicka and Steinman to tie the game. Konieczny wound up at third and Gebauer took second on the throw home.

Huegli came up next and hit a liner down the rightfield line to put Medford in front 5-3.

From there, Miller slammed the door on Rhinelander’s offense, while the Raiders kept adding on. Starting to lay off DeMeyer’s pitches just above the strike zone, Medford walked the bases loaded in the fourth. Surek drove in a run by getting hit with a pitch and Konieczny hit a sacrifice fly to make it 7-3.

A four-run fifth broke the game open at 11-3 with Laney Haenel now pitching for the Hodags. Paulson drove in a run with a groundout and Leonhardt singled in another. Huegli led off the bottom of the sixth with a double and was singled in by Hartl. Walks loaded the bases with one out for Seidl, who hit a tapper toward third and the throw home for a force play was dropped, scoring the last run.

Huegli was two for three with two RBIs and two runs scored out of the ninth spot in the batting order. Leonhardt was two for two. The hits for Medford continued to come from a variety of sources, which Berndt said after the game is making it tough for him to settle on a lineup because he has more capable hitters than spots on the card.

DeMeyer allowed six runs in four innings pitched, walked seven, hit two and struck out two while taking the loss. Her homer was one of three Rhinelander hits.