A new name at the top

Raiders on the verge of ending Mosinee’s GNC softball reign

The Medford Raiders have earned a Great Northern Conference championship trophy for their softball play this spring.

Now their job is to make sure no one else gets one too.

The Raiders, ranked fourth in last week’s Division 2 state poll, improved to 9-0 in the GNC and 14-0 overall Tuesday with a 10-0 win at Rhinelander that clinched at least a share of the program’s first conference title since 2010. That championship was shared with Mosinee, who has won or shared every GNC title in softball since the conference began play in the 2008-09 school year.

Fittingly, Medford hosts Mosinee today, Thursday, at 5 p.m. –– if weather permits –– with a chance to finally end the Indians’ run of dominance.

“I had never brought it up or harped about it,” Medford head coach Virgil Berndt said, adding that many of the girls weren’t even aware they had broken the championship drought. “I said after the game that’s just one step. Hopefully you have bigger goals than that.”

Mosinee, Antigo and Tomahawk all currently sit with three GNC losses and a mathematical chance to tie Medford. But that all ends with one more Medford win or a loss by any of them. Medford is at Antigo Tuesday and hosts Tomahawk on June 3.

Tuesday’s win was complicated a bit by Mother Nature, who spoiled a 0-0 pitchers’ duel with Menomonie the previous night with a fourth-inning downpour that forced the game to be canceled. Tuesday’s game started at Rhinelander’s Pioneer Park but had to moved to the Hodag Dome due to lightning in the top of the fourth inning. But the winning formula was the same as sophomore pitcher Martha Miller remained unscored upon and the offense took what the Hodags gave them.

Miller struck out 10 and walked one in seven innings. Rhinelander’s only hit was a bloop single to right by Maddi Roeser leading off the sixth inning. With Addi DeMeyer getting caught stealing after walking in the first, Miller faced one batter over the minimum. The Hodags’ unearned run in an 11-1 game May 11 remains the only run a team has scored against Medford with Miller in the circle. The shutout was Medford’s 11th of the year.

“Rhinelander made a lot of contact off of her, which was good, our defense needed that,” Berndt said. “We made some nice plays on defense, which we haven’t had to do.”

The Raiders built a quick three-run cushion in the top of the first inning. Miller walked, stole second, was bunted to third by Allie Paulson and scored on an infield single by Morgan Huegli. Huegli stole second and went to third on a hit by Laurissa Klapatauskas. They pulled off a double steal to produce a run and Delani Clausnitzer tripled to the rightfield corner to drive in Klapatauskas.

Paulson’s infield hit scored Miller from second in the second to make it 4-0. Allie Wesle walked and courtesy runner Katie Lybert wound up scoring on a wild pitch in the fourth. Makala Ulrich singled and scored on Katie Brehm’s single in the sixth. The Raiders put it away with a four-run seventh. Lybert singled and scored on a Madisyn Pilgrim hit. Pilgrim and Delaney Hraby, who doubled, scored on a hit by Ulrich that was compounded by a misplay in the outfield. Miller capped the inning with an RBI single.

Medford had 12 hits by 11 players off DeMeyer, who went three innings, and Laney Haenel. Ulrich was two for four.

Medford 23, Lakeland 0

In a game moved to Rhinelander’s Hodag Dome on Friday, the Raiders pounded Lakeland for the second time in seven days, this time using a 15-run second inning to beat the winless Thunderbirds 23-0 in three innings.

Laurissa Klapatauskas hit a three-run homer and Makala Ulrich hit a two-run bomb two batters later to start the big 15run inning, giving Medford a 12-0 lead at the time. Klapatauskas would’ve had another three-run homer in the inning had her drive down the leftfield line not hit the roof and was declared a foul ball.

Medford had 13 hits and took advantage of nine Lakeland errors, two walks and a hit batter in the win.

Klapatauskas was two for four with four RBIs, Brehm was two for three with two doubles and three RBIs. Chloe Werner was two for two with a double and Wesle drove in four runs while going one for three with a two-run triple.

Miller allowed a hit and struck out two in the first inning. Klapatauskas struck out three, walked three and allowed a hit in her two innings in the circle.

Medford 9, East 0

On Thursday, Medford broke open what had been a pitchers’ duel for five innings with a three-run sixth inning rally and a five-run seventh to beat host Wausau East 9-0 in non-conference play.

Miller made Medford’s end of the duel stand by striking out 17 Lumberjacks in a five-hit, complete-game shutout. She did not walk a batter. East had one major threat, loading the bases in the sixth on two singles and a dropped third strike. But Miller got number-seven hitter Emma Pagel to ground out to Paulson at shortstop to end that threat.

The Raiders hurt themselves with some base-running miscues but finally broke it open late.

Paulson walked and eventually scored on a wild pitch in the top of the fourth for the game’s only run until the sixth. Ulrich hit an RBI single with two outs in the sixth and Rynn Ruesch followed with a two-run single to put the Raiders up 4-0.

In the seventh, Rachael Schreiber led off with a base hit and scored on Paulson’s triple. Huegli knocked in Paulson with a single, Klapatauskas reached when East failed to get an out on a fielder’s choice. Clausnitzer doubled in a run, Ulrich hit a sacrifice fly and Ruesch doubled in a run for her third RBI of the game. She was two for four.

Clausnitzer was three for four and scored twice. Paulson was two for three and scored twice.

Medford senior catcher Allie Wesle knocks a base hit just before lightning delays Tuesday’s game in Rhinelander and forces it to be finished at the Hodag Dome. Medford won 10-0 to clinch at least a share of the Great Northern Conference championship with three league games yet to play.BOB MAINHARDT/NORTHWOODS RIVER NEWS