Raiders off to 3-0 start thanks to GNC wins at Pines and Tomahawk

Both offenses were hot early, but Medford was the team that stayed hot over the entire game Tuesday in a 22-9, six-inning win at Northland Pines.

The Raiders banged out 19 hits and completed a season sweep over the Eagles, who they beat 15-0 one week earlier. The Raiders sit atop the Great Northern Conference at 3-0. Next week could be a better indicator of just where Medford stands in the conference. The Raiders host Rhinelander (2-1) on Tuesday and visit Mosinee (1-0, 2-1), the league’s dominant program over the past decade, on May 13.

The Raiders wasted no time Tuesday, picking up offensively right where they left off in last week’s five-inning win over the Eagles. A seven-run top of the first featured a two-run home run by Rynn Ruesch, her first varsity bomb, an RBI single from Allie Wesle and a two-run single by number-two hitter Hope Faude in her second at-bat of the inning.

Laurissa Klapatauskas got her first pitching start of the young season and was rudely greeted by the Eagles, who had scored 12 and 10 runs in two wins late last week. They put up a five-spot on four hits and a walk and then took an 8-7 lead in the second on a three-run home run by Lucy Lurvey.

The Raiders countered in the top of the third with a leadoff solo homer from Katie Brehm and a two-out, two-run single by Morgan Huegli. The Eagles got a run back to make it 10-9.

It stayed that way until the fifth when the Raiders put up a six-spot to start pulling away. Martha Miller and Faude singled. An error on a ball hit by Klapatauskas scored Miller. Delani Clausnitzer singled in Faude. After Huegli singled, an errant throw scored two runs. Ruesch smacked an RBI double and she scored on a base hit by Brehm.

Six more runs in the sixth put it away. Makala Ulrich drew a bases-loaded walk, Miller and Faude hit two-run singles and Klapatauskas drilled an RBI triple.

Miller, Faude, Ruesch and Brehm all went three for four. Faude had four runs batted in, Ruesch had three and Brehm and Miller had two each. Faude scored four times. Brehm, Ruesch and Miller all scored three runs. Huegli was two for three with three RBIs.

Miller pitched three shutout relief innings, striking out six, walking one and allowing one hit. She is unscored upon in 15 innings. Klapatauskas struck out five, walked four and allowed seven hits and eight earned runs in three innings.

Halle Kerner had three of the Eagles’ eight hits.

Medford’s game with Wausau West scheduled for today, Thursday, has been canceled. The Raiders will host the Warriors May 14. This Saturday, the Raiders will play Hurley at 10 a.m. and Spencer at noon at Gilman as part of the Gilman-Thorp Slamfest.

Medford 8, Tomahawk 0

Miller led off the game with a home run and was absolutely dominant in the circle Thursday, striking out 13 of the first 15 batters she faced in an 8-0 win at Tomahawk.

Miller finished with 15 punchouts. The offense, after a slow start, finally put the game away with a four-run fifth inning and tacked on three more in the seventh.

“Once we scored those you knew it was over the way Martha was rolling,” Medford head coach Virgil Berndt said.

Tomahawk had just one hit, a leadoff single in the sixth by Alyssa Zehner. Sammy Gebauer also reached on a two-out error in that inning, but Scout Stromberg’s groundout left them stranded. Addison Bartz walked with two outs in the seventh to become Tomahawk’s third and final base runner.

Molly Mott threw four solid innings for the Hatchets, allowing just one run on Miller’s leadoff homer and Ruesch single in the fourth. She struck out two. Maddie Marino relieved Mott in the fifth and got roughed up by the Raiders.

Eryka Seidl and Ulrich started the inning with walks. Clausnitzer drove in Seidl with a fielder’s choice. Brehm walked and Miller was hit by a pitch to load the bases for Faude, who reached on an error to drive in a run. Klapatauskas singled to plate a pair and make it a 5-0 game.

Errors and a wild pitch that scored Faude played a key role in Medford’s three-run seventh. Huegli added an RBI groundout.

Medford only had four hits, one apiece by Miller, Ruesch, Klapatauskas and Clausnitzer. Marino struck out seven Raiders in her three innings and walked four.