WIAA DIV. 2 SOFTBALL SECTIONAL - 7th-inning hit stuns Raiders, helps Lakeland advance to state

Everyone at the ball diamond knew if the Lakeland Thunderbirds were going to win the June 4 WIAA Division 2 softball sectional semifinal with second-seeded Medford, their star senior pitcher Saylor Timmerman needed to have a big day.

Sophomore Savanah Kemnitz, however, likely was not on many people’s lists of players to watch.

Thrust into Lakeland’s lineup in the sixth inning due to a knee injury suffered by third baseman Addison Trapp, Kemnitz found herself in the batter’s box with the bases loaded and two outs in the top of the seventh of a 1-1 tie. With Medford’s own standout, Rylee Hraby, one strike away from getting out of the bases-loaded mess, Kemnitz got the bat head out enough on a 1-2 offering and dropped a base hit just inside the leftfield line, making her the hero in the fourth-seeded T-Birds’ 2-1 win in a tense defensive battle at the MAES diamond.

As advertised, Timmerman and Hraby were both tough on opposing hitters. Both also had a hand in their teams’ first runs. Hraby hit an opposite-field double in the bottom of the first, got to third base on a throwing error on the play and scored on Finley Arndt’s groundout — marking the first post-season run Timmerman and the T-Birds had allowed after 21 innings. Timmerman launched a solo homer with two outs in the top of the third.

Other than that, it was all zeros with both pitchers getting big outs when they needed until Kemnitz’s deciding swing.

“Lakeland has really gotten better,” Medford head coach Virgil Berndt said. “They came in and played very well. When we got out of the top of the first and then scored, I thought we were in good shape. Then we had a chance in the second and they got out of that big jam and from there it was tough. They came in and hit the ball and made plays.”

Lakeland got nine hits against Hraby, including three from Karlin Williams, who led off the game with a double on the first pitch. However, she got a late jump on Lani Frisch’s bunt, and was thrown out by Medford third baseman Ruthie Steinman with shortstop Kayla Baumgartner covering the third-base bag. Rayna Hella hit a two-out single but Hraby got Marlee Strasburg to fly out to right to end that threat.

Medford got is first-inning run then stranded two in the second after Chelsea Gebauer singled and Laney Hraby walked with one out. Timmerman, though, got two strikeouts to end that.

Timmerman finished with 10 strikeouts and three walks while allowing three hits, only one of which came after the second inning. She was called for five illegal pitches during for hopping and re-setting her back foot, but she didn’t get rattled as Berndt said she might have in the past.

“She was spot on,” Berndt said. “She hit her spots, she didn’t let those illegal pitch calls bother her. She worked through it.”

Rylee Hraby showed her mettle in the fifth and sixth innings. In the fifth, Williams split the gap in right-center for a one-out double, Frisch walked and Timmerman was intentionally walked to load the bases. Hraby got Hella to hit a line drive right at Steinman, who nearly doubled off Williams after making the catch. Strasburg then flied out to left to end that threat.

In the sixth, Malia Newport singled with one out and scooted to third on an error. Zayleah Leonhardt, Medford’s catcher, caught a pop-up hit by Ali Timmerman and struck out Sarah Barton to strand Newport.

Hraby finished with seven strikeouts and walked only two batters, including the intentional free pass.

Medford put a runner in scoring position in the fourth and fifth innings. Addison Brahmer was hit by a pitch to lead off the fourth and eventually ended up at third on two stolen bases, but Timmerman got out of the inning with two strikeouts. Arndt singled with two outs in the fifth and stole second, but Timmerman got the always-dangerous Leonhardt to fly out to left.

Timmerman’s homer in the third came with two outs and nobody on. Hindsight may suggest the Raiders should have walked her, which they’ve done several times over the last couple of seasons, but Berndt didn’t regret facing her in that situation.

“The pitch was supposed to be away,” he said. “We thought we could go after her. We had struck her out four times (this season). With nobody on, we thought we’d go for it. Rylee struck her out in the first. If she hit a double, so be it. We didn’t expect her to hit one out of the park.”

Williams started Lakeland’s winning rally by dumping a single into shallow leftfield. Frisch then snuck a full-count ground ball through the left side. Timmerman lined one over Baumgartner’s head for a single to fill the bases. The Raiders got a key out when Hella grounded to Baumgartner, who threw out Williams at home plate. Strassburg hit a short pop-up back to Hraby for the second out, but Kemnitz then got her big hit. Timmerman then mowed down the bottom of Medford’s order to end it.

“If we could’ve gotten out of that, I would’ve liked our chances in the eighth inning,” Berndt said.

Medford appeared in its fourth sectional semifinal in five years but for the fourth time came away on the short end.

“It’s strange, but this one doesn’t hurt as bad I think because we played well,” Berndt said. “We didn’t do anything to beat ourselves. Lakeland has just come on strong.”

Lakeland (20-8) advanced to the sectional final Thursday at Rice Lake, where the T-Birds continued their remarkable post-season run by knocking off the Warriors 1-0. Lakeland plays Denmark Friday at 7 p.m. in its first-ever state softball appearance.

Medford finished another strong season at 20-8. The Raiders lose two All-GNC caliber seniors in Chelsea Gebauer and Tori Konieczny and Grace Schmidtfranz was a key hitter off the bench during the season. The rest of the crew returns and should be capable of making another run.

“I’m so proud of the girls, what a fun year,” Berndt said. “This group of girls is so much fun. They really played together as a team. Everyone contributed. It was an awesome year.

“We’re going to miss our seniors, but we have a strong group coming back. I’m looking forward to doing it again.”