Redmen easily down Blackhawks, look forward to regional semifinal
RIB LAKE SOFTBALL
With WIAA Division 5 play a week away and a first-round opponent they feel they can compete with, the Rib Lake softball team took advantage of an opportunity to build momentum Tuesday with a 10-0, five-inning win over visiting Owen-Withee.
The Lady Redmen scored six secondinning runs to put this one away quickly and improve to 4-9 for the season with one game left in the regular season. That is a newly-added game at Tomahawk today, Thursday, at 5 p.m.
Senior Emily Rodman went out a winner in her final start in the pitching circle on the home diamond. Throwing all five innings, she struck out five, walked one and allowed just two hits. One of those hits was a second-inning, one-out triple, but the Blackhawks (1-15) struck out twice and never threatened to score again.
Rib Lake got all the offense it needed in that big second inning. Josie Scheithauer led off with a single and stole second base. Tessa Krause and Rodman both walked to load the bases. Leah Chmielowiec reached on an infield single and a throwing error made it a two-run play. Kyla Kennedy singled to drive in a run. Molly Heiser banged a two-run triple and scored on Danielle Mann’s double.
Walks to Krause and Rodman and an infield hit by Addison Gumz loaded the bases again in the third, leading to an RBI walk from Chmielowiec and an RBI single by Kennedy. The Redmen tacked on their last two runs in the fifth with Heiser hitting an RBI single and the final run coming on an error to end the game early.
“It was a game where we didn’t play great, but we didn’t play poorly either,” head coach Craig Scheithauer said. “One thing we did do well was run the bases. We put the ball in play and put some pressure on their defense. That was a positive. Our seniors won their last game on their home field and they all got to play, which was good.”
Kennedy and Heiser each had two of Rib Lake’s eight hits. Included among the seniors who played their final home game was Reagan Reinhardt, who got four at-bats and played four innings at third base. She is recovering from a basketball knee injury and got a meaningful last home appearance.
After tonight’s game in Tomahawk it’s on to Tuesday’s 4:30 p.m. regional semifinal where the fifth-seeded Redmen will travel to fourth-seeded Butternut-Mercer (7-7). The Pioneers have beaten Rib Lake three times the past two seasons, including a 12-6 decision back on May 3 of this year and an 11-6 game in last year’s regional semifinal.
A big inning was the key to both of those wins. Limiting those rallies will be one key to victory in the tournament opener. The Redmen also have been improving offensively since then and Scheithauer is confident his team can score some runs and give themselves a chance to play at top-seeded Drummond (13-3) in the May 26 regional final.
“We owe them one from last year,” he said. “They scored nine runs in the first inning in the regional game last year. After that we outscored them, something like 6-1. It wasn’t a case of us giving them walks or errors. It was a walk or two and they just had a lot of hits, eight or nine hits. We’ll throw some pitchers at them they didn’t see in the first game this year and see what happens.”
Stratford 10, Rib Lake 5
On Friday, Rib Lake did some early offensive damage, but was a key hit or two away from doing even more and it cost the Redmen when Stratford came back to earn a 10-5 Marawood crossover win.
The Tigers turned a 5-1 deficit into a 6-5 lead in the middle innings and then put the game away with a four-run sixth. After giving Sonia Peterson and Ally Zuleger an inning each in the pitching circle early, Stratford put ace Lacey Pankratz there in the third and she went 15 up, 15 down in five innings, striking out seven.
Rib Lake left the bases loaded in each of those first two innings. Still, the Redmen did put up a four-spot in the first to take a 4-0 lead. Gumz drew a walk from Peterson, Chmielowiec singled and Kennedy walked to load the bases. Heiser’s base hit scored Gumz. Mann drilled a deep two-run single to center and Kiana Dallmann later drew a bases-loaded walk. Peterson got Gumz, the next batter, to pop up to finally end the inning.
Against Zuleger in the second, Chmielowiec and Heiser walked and Mann singled in Chmielowiec with one out. With the bases loaded and two down, Zuleger induced a comebacker from Rodman to end the inning and that was the end of Rib Lake’s traffic on the base paths.
The Tigers pulled within 5-4 in the third, keyed by a couple of errors a badhop, two-run single by Emma Roeper. Delaney Dennee’s two-run single in the fourth put Stratford on top. Three walks, a hit batter, a wild pitch and a three-run double by Megan Wiese allowed Stratford to build on its lead.
Rib Lake finished with five early hits. Mann was two for three with three runs batted in. Heiser, Kennedy and Chmielowiec had one hit apiece.
“(Pankratz) threw well,” coach Scheithauer said. “They’re not a bad team. They’re a decent team that’s played right with a lot of the teams in their league and we played right with them.”
Rodman pitched the first four innings and took the loss. She allowed five hits and six runs, four of which were earned. She struck out three and walked two. Josie Scheithauer struck out five, walked four and allowed three hits and four earned runs in three relief innings.
Phillips 12, Rib Lake 6
On Thursday, one of Rib Lake’s best efforts of the season put them in position to upset Marawood North champion Phillips until the Loggers scored four times in the top of the seventh to finally put away the Redmen 12-6.
Just three days after being no-hit by the Loggers’ ace Kendall Weik, the Redmen erased an early 4-0 deficit by scoring five times in the bottom of the second and taking a 5-4 lead. Scheithauer started the uprising with a walk, followed by singles from Krause and Rodman that got Rib Lake on the board. After a sacrifice bunt by Dallmann, Gumz singled, Chmielowiec walked and Kennedy, Heiser and Mann all hit run-scoring singles.
The Loggers got single tallies in each of the next four innings to go up 8-5. Rib Lake got a run-scoring fielder’s choice from Scheithauer in the bottom of the sixth.
Through six innings, Mann walked 11 Loggers and allowed eight hits, but she made enough pitches and the defense made enough plays to limit the damage. Five of the eight runs she allowed were earned. Gumz took over in the seventh and was victimized by a three-run homer and an unearned run that put it out of reach.
“There were a couple of times in that game where I should have trusted my gut,” Craig Scheithauer said, reflecting a couple of situations where, in hindsight, he wished he would have been more aggressive in trying to score runners. “The ball player in me conflicted with the coach in me. We probably would have had two more runs and maybe another. Maybe that makes a difference.
“I told the girls after the game that Phillips had beaten Drummond 13-0 and we played them in a game like that,” he added. “That should tell them that we have the ability to compete in our regional.”
Heiser and Mann both went three for four at the plate. Rib Lake had 12 hits in the loss.
Rib Lake 12, Eagles 9
On May 9, Rib Lake capped off a long day of softball with a rewarding 12-9 Marawood North victory at Chequamegon in the completion of a game that had been suspended in Rib Lake on April 12.
The game that night was the second of a season-opening doubleheader. Rib Lake, playing as the visitors was up 6-1 after two innings when play was halted. The Redmen scored all six of those runs in the top of the first when Gumz singled, Scheithauer walked, Mann singled and Kennedy reached on an error. Heiser singled, followed by two errors. Three walks added to the rally.
Rib Lake had a chance to deliver a knockout punch, but left the bases loaded in the top of the third. The Screaming Eagles pulled within 6-5 in the fifth and, after Rodman drove in a run with a ground ball in the top of the sixth, took an 8-7 lead with a three-run rally in the bottom of the sixth.
“I just told them after the sixth that it’s up to you,” Scheithauer said. “You’re the better team. Let’s play ball in the seventh inning, try to be aggressive and see if we can win it.”
The inning started with errors on balls hit by Dallmann and Gumz.
“Those were a result of putting the ball in play and then using their speed,” Scheithauer said. “They’re our fastest players.”
Another error on a ball hit by Scheithauer was followed by an RBI single by Mann and a two-run double by Kennedy. After a couple more errors, it was a 12-8 game. Chequamegon got two hits and a run in the bottom half off Mann, but that wasn’t enough.
Rodman got the win, going six in- nings. Over the two dates the game was played, she struck out three, walked two and scattered 12 hits while allowing eight runs, six of which were earned. Kennedy was three for five and scored three times. Heiser and Gumz had two hits apiece.
“That win was our reward for staying with it after the way the day started at Phillips,” Scheithauer said. “That was a big win for us.”
Phillips 11, Rib Lake 0
In Rib Lake’s first game on May 9, Weik walked only one batter and struck out 10 in a five-inning no-hitter as host Phillips took care of Rib Lake 11-0.
Mann drew the walk and was Rib Lake’s only base runner. Phillips, meanwhile, scored three runs in the first, two in the second, four in the third and two more in the fourth to put the 10-run rule into effect by the fifth.
Brianna Guzinski did the most damage, going two for three with four RBIs. Paige Edwards, Kacy Eggebrecht and Megan Deleasky had two hits apiece for the Loggers.
Rodman went an inning and allowed four hits and three runs with a walk and a strikeout. Scheithauer was tagged for four walks, five hits and six runs, five of which were earned, in 1.1 innings. Gumz slowed Phillips down in her 1.2 innings, striking out one, walking two and allowing a hit and two runs, one of which was earned.
Brianna Guzinski hit a three-run homer for Phillips in the four-run third.
Newman 10, Rib Lake 0
Rib Lake fell behind early and got little going offensively in a lackluster 10-0 loss at Newman Catholic on May 6.
Rib Lake had just three hits in the five-inning loss, two from Heiser and one from Rhonnie Jo Scheithauer as Ashley Jankowski struck out two and walked one.
The Cardinals struck for four runs in the first inning and four more in the fourth to do most of their damage. Up 9-0, they got their 10th run with two down in the fifth to put the 10-run rule into effect and end the game.
Jankowski was three for three at the plate with a triple, two runs scored and one driven in. Lilly Zeimetz was two for four with a double and two RBIs. Lily Shields was two for two.
The Cardinals got 11 hits and nine runs, seven of which were earned, against Rodman, who pitched four innings. She struck out two and walked one. Scheithauer pitched the fifth, striking out one, walking two and allowing two hits and a run.
