Raiders surge into tournament riding an 8-game win streak
MEDFORD BASEBALL
Aiden Gardner hit a two-run homer and Caleb Guden had two hits with three runs batted in Tuesday to lead the Medford Raiders to a 10-5 win at Pittsville and secure the program’s third-straight 20-win season.
The 25th and final game of the regular season was a late addition, coming together Monday night after another addition, a game at Columbus Catholic, was scrapped. It gave the starters a chance to stay sharp heading into the post-season but also allowed some reserves to get some innings.
The win was Medford’s eighth straight since a 1-0 loss to Northland Pines on May 5.
“I am glad this game came together,” head coach Justin Hraby said after completing the 20-5 regular season. We got four pitchers some work, our bats saw live pitching and we had to compete to win. Pittsville has a nice young team and will be tough to beat come tourney time.”
Tourney time for Medford starts today, Thursday, at 4:30 p.m. when the second- seeded Raiders host seventh-seeded Lakeland (8-15) in a WIAA Division 2 regional quarterfinal. The Great Northern Conference rivals met in an April 11 doubleheader that Medford swept 14-1 and 21-10 on a day where the T-Birds were on a field for the first time. Tonight’s winner advances to Tuesday’s regional semifinal against either sixth-seeded Antigo (9-13) or third-seeded Abbotsford-Colby (13-9). The regional final is Wednesday. GNC champion Mosinee (22-2) is the region’s top seed.
The Raiders struck quickly in the regular- season finale, getting a one-out walk from Guden and the two-out home run by Gardner to jump ahead 2-0.
“Our bats got going right away,” Hraby said. “Aiden really put a charge into that ball to get us on the board with two outs in the first.”
The Raiders kept building on the lead from there, stretching it to 9-0 by the middle of the sixth. Singles by Brigham Kelley, Guden and Tanner Hraby loaded the bases with one out in the third. Gardner’s fielder’s choice knocked in Kelley and Hraby eventually scored on a wild pitch. The Raiders left the bases loaded in that inning.
In the fourth, Max Dietzman singled, Seth Mudgett singled and Guden hit a sacrifice fly. Hraby’s base hit scored Mudgett to make it 6-0.
In a three-run sixth, Miles Searles and Ty Metz got it started with singles and scored on Guden’s triple to right field. Guden later scored as Colby Elsner grounded into a double play.
Guden is now Medford’s all-time leader in runs scored with 82, runs batted in with 73 and hits with 93. As coach Hraby noted, those totals were acquired without him even having his sophomore season due to the Covid shutdown.
Guden struck out two and allowed two hits in two scoreless innings to start the game. Sophomore Gavin Fuchs then made his varsity debut and pitched three scoreless innings, striking out three, walking two and working around three Panther hits.
“Gavin was good in his first varsity appearance on the mound,” Hraby said. “He settled in nicely and tossed three scoreless.”
Pittsville did its damage in the last two innings, using three walks and two hits to get two runs off Hraby in the sixth and getting three unearned runs against Metz in the seventh. Braxton Weissmiller doubled for Medford in the seventh and scored on a base hit by Searles.
Tanner Hraby was two for three at the plate, while Searles and Metz both went two for two coming off the bench.
“It was good to see us hit through the order again,” Justin Hraby said. “Also good to see our bench guys get some hits. Ty and Miles had two hits and Tucker Kraemer, Kale Klussendorf and Colby Elsner all hit balls hard right at people.”
Medford 10, Tomahawk 0
Medford wrapped up second place in the Great Northern Conference Monday with a 10-0 rout of last-place Tomahawk at Raider Field in a game that was postponed four days due to Thursday’s stormy weather.
The Raiders went into the game with a sliver of hope of sharing the GNC title, but Mosinee’s 8-2 win over Rhinelander ended that. Medford finished 10-2 in league play, while Mosinee won it at 11-1. Tomahawk finished 0-12 with Monday’s loss.
Logan Baumgartner threw a threehit, five-inning shutout. He only struck out two but the defense was flawless behind him. Baumgartner also went two for three at the plate, Guden was two for two with two walks and two runs driven in and Tanner Hraby and Parker Lissner both drove in a pair as well.
“Logan pounded the zone and had a solid defense behind him tonight,” Justin Hraby said. Parker Lissner had a great night in the field and at the plate. He made some tough plays that prevented some potential big innings at third base. He has worked really hard to be solid at the hot corner.”
The Raiders got the lead quickly in the bottom of the first. Mudgett led off by reaching on a dropped fly ball and moved to second on a wild pitch. He scored on Guden’s line drive single to center. Guden stole second and scored on Tanner Hraby’s single up the middle.
Kelley doubled to the leftfield fence with one out in the second and scored when Guden beat out a two-out infield single. Gardner led off the third by bouncing a single through the left side and taking third on Baumgartner’s single to left. He scored on Lissner’s sacrifice fly.
After the Raiders stranded two runners in scoring position in the fourth, they ended the game with a six-run fifth with all of the damage coming against reliever Blake Felser.
Baumgartner started it by ripping a double down the leftfield line. His courtesy runner, Elsner, moved to third on Weissmiller’s single and scored on Lissner’s base hit to right. Lissner and Searles, pinch running for Weissmiller, moved up a base on a wild pitch and Searles scored on Dietzman’s groundout. Kelley’s single to left scored Lissner to make it 7-0.
Mudgett’s single sent Kelley to third. Walks to Guden and Hraby forced in the eighth run. The Hatchets dropped Gardner’s pop-up in shallow right, allowing Mudgett to score. Guden was forced at home on Baumgartner’s grounder, but Searles walked to force in the final run.
“Our ability to put up a big inning is what put this away,” coach Hraby said. “Since we did some tweaking of the lineup, we have scored a lot of runs and have not lost a game.”
Marcus Matti was the losing pitcher. He allowed six hits, three walks and four runs, three of which were earned, in four innings. Felser was tagged for six runs, five of which were earned, five hits and three walks in two-thirds of an inning.
Medford 6, Merrill 0
Three pitchers combined for a fourhit shutout Friday when the Raiders celebrated Senior Night as well as Youth Night with a 6-0 non-conference win over the Merrill Blue Jays.
Baumgartner allowed three of the four hits, but he struck out three and stranded four Merrill base runners in the first three innings. Kelley was tough over the next three innings, striking out four while walking only one and allowing a hit. Mudgett walked one in the seventh inning.
“Our pitchers did a great job of pounding the zone and allowing the defense behind them to do the work,” coach Hraby said. “All three of them were tough on the mound.”
The offense scored single runs in the first and third innings, which wound up being all Medford needed, but most of the damage was done in the fourth, when a four-run rally put Merrill away. The loss dropped Merrill to 11-12 at the time.
Two of the hits off Baumgartner were one-out singles in the top of the first by Henry Reimann and Sam Reimann, but the Raider junior struck out Nathan Broznowski and got Zach Neumann to fly out to centerfielder Steve Hraby to end the threat.
The Raiders got on the board in the bottom half with a double to left-center by Guden and a two-out single by Gardner.
In the third, Mudgett drew a leadoff walk against Henry Reimann, Merrill’s starting pitcher, advanced to second on an errant pickoff throw and scored on another two-out RBI single to left from Gardner.
Blue Jay reliever Fletcher Ellenbecker had a tough time in the bottom of the fourth. He walked the leadoff batter, Weissmiller, and Lissner to get himself into immediate trouble. A dropped fly ball in left on a ball hit by Dietzman loaded the bases for Kelley, who doubled to deep center to drive in two.
“Brigham had a great night,” Hraby said. “Had a big two-run double and three solid innings on the mound. I am so proud of him. He has stayed the course and is really playing some good baseball at this point in the season.”
Mudgett walked to re-load the bases for Guden, who was hit by a pitch to force in a run. Tanner Hraby’s sacrifice fly off reliever Tyson Glisch closed the scoring. Glisch got out of the inning with no further damage and allowed just one hit in two innings. Connor Cortwright walked one in a scoreless sixth.
Gardner had two of Medford’s six hits. Guden, Baumgartner, Weissmiller and Kelley had one hit apiece.
“We were a couple of hard-hit balls finding holes away from really blowing the game open,” Hraby said.
