Raiders get a big one at Mosinee to start GNC play
MEDFORD BASEBALL
As Medford senior Logan Baumgartner put it Monday, it didn’t really feel like April, it felt like June. Whether he was speaking about the weather or the playofflike intensity of the Great Northern Conference opener, he wasn’t wrong in either case.
Baumgartner came one out away from going the distance on the mound and Tanner Hraby’s two-out, three-run triple in the top of the fifth was the key hit in Medford’s 4-1 win at Mosinee, who entered the game as the state’s second-ranked team in Division 2 according to the pre-season Wisconsin Baseball Coaches Association poll.
To get a win and assure a split in this first-week matchup between the GNC’s anticipated top two teams was big. Now the Raiders get a chance to sweep it and go two games up on their rivals tonight, Thursday, in a 5 p.m. rematch at Raider Field.
“We played the game we needed to play to beat them,” Medford head coach Justin Hraby said. “Be scrappy at the plate, come up with a few big hits, pitch well and play great defense. For the most part we put it all together and played a near perfect game.
“Logan was spot-on in this game,” he added. “He was able to move the ball around and change speeds when needed. He was tough out there and showed why he is the best pitcher in the conference.”
Baumgartner allowed five hits and just two walks –– both in the fourth inning –– while striking out nine against a potent Mosinee offense that had a 16-0 season-opening win over Stratford to its credit.
“That’s the best way you can start it right there,” Baumgartner said of the win. “(Catcher) Braxton (Weissmiller) was calling good pitches and putting good spots out there. It just felt good. I was hitting all the spots today, inside/outside. I felt like I could’ve located the curveball better sometimes. I hung it a little but it all went good.”
The back-to-back walks issued by Baumgartner with two outs in the fourth marked the only time up to that point that a team had multiple base runners in an inning. Baumgartner got Sawyer Holtz to line out to Tanner Hraby at short to end that threat.
Then the Raiders did their damage in the top of the fifth.
Miles Searles started the rally by lining a double down the rightfield line and Jacob Eckert’s sacrifice bunt attempt died in the grass and wound up being a base hit to put runners on the corners. Mosinee pitcher Garrett Shupe struck out Ty Metz. With number-nine hitter Nick Steliga at the plate, Eckert stole second base but Mosinee was able to nab Searles at the plate for the second out of the inning.
Steliga, though, kept the rally alive by beating out an infield hit and leadoff hitter Parker Lissner walked.
With Hraby due up, Mosinee went to their All-GNC pitcher Keagan Jirschele and on the second pitch, Hraby lined a rocket over the head of centerfielder Blake Nichols to clear the bases.
“Bases were loaded and they brought a new pitcher in,” Tanner Hraby said. “The first pitch I swung and missed, but I still felt good. The next pitch was good and it just felt good. It was a good swing, the ball had a lot of backspin and just carried.”
Baumgartner followed with a looper down the line in shallow right that Mosinee first baseman Davin Stoffel got a glove on, but couldn’t haul in, allowing Hraby to score for a 4-0 lead.
“Tanner came up big in a big spot,” Justin Hraby said. “The moment didn’t faze him and he put a good swing on Jirschele and made them pay. Jake Eckert had some great at-bats, including a huge bunt in our big inning. Nick Steliga found his way on base twice and dug right in in his first varsity start.”
Mosinee got a one-out single in the bottom half from number-nine hitter Grant Kuklinski and Jirschele reached on an error, putting two runners in scoring position. Kuklinski did score on a wild pitch, but Baumgartner got out of the jam by inducing a comebacker from Nichols and striking out Gavin Obremski.
Kuklinski singled with one out in the seventh to give Mosinee one last shot. As Baumgartner hit his 100-pitch limit the speedy Jirschele hit about the only ground ball the Raiders could double him up on, as it went right to Hraby at the second-base bag. But a tricky hop meant he only got the forceout on Kuklinski and Metz was going to be needed to relieve Baumgartner to get the last out.
“That last one was a double play,” Tanner Hraby said. “It took a bad hop and rolled right up my arm. I had confidence in Ty. I knew he was going to get it done. Bummy pitched a really good game.”
With Metz pitching, Baumgartner took over at short and Nichols hit a routine grounder to him to end the game.
Medford had a hit apiece from six players in the win. Four of them came against Shupe, who struck out three, walked two and allowed three earned runs in his 4.2 innings. Jirschele struck out one, walked one and allowed two hits and a run while throwing 38 pitches in 2.1 innings.
“That was a great win for us,” coach Hraby said. “Getting one from them right away puts the pressure on them later in the week. It’s going to be tough, but our guys are ready to grind.”
Rapids 8, Medford 5
On Tuesday, Medford was bit by a fiverun third inning by the home team and fell 8-5 at Wisconsin Rapids in non-conference play. Rapids’ big rally reversed Medford’s early 2-0 lead and dropped the Raiders to 2-2 overall. Medford did get back within 6-5 in the fifth, but Rapids got two more runs in the bottom of the sixth to seal it.
“Our guys battled in this game,” Justin Hraby said. “You never are satisfied with a loss, but we did a lot of really good things. We hit very well against their number-one and number-two pitchers.”
Fifteen players got into the game at some point and the Raiders went deep into their pitching staff to eat up the innings between the two games with Mosinee.
Weissmiller put Medford in front with a long two-out, RBI double in the top of the first. Searles tripled and scored on Metz’s groundout in the top of the second.
But the game turned in the bottom of the third with a hit batter, four hits and an error leading to the Red Raiders’ five runs. Brennan Huber, who had six putouts in centerfield, hit an RBI triple and scored the tying run on a Brett Simonsen single. Josh Dekarske had a run-scoring single and Trevor Martin hit an RBI triple before the inning ended.
“Brennan Huber showed why he is All-State,” Hraby said. “He saved them at least three or four runs, not to mention he was tough at the plate.”
Max Dietzman doubled, moved to third on an infield single by Searles and scored on a wild pitch to get Medford within 5-3 in the top of the fourth. Rapids got an unearned run in the bottom half.
The Raiders closed the gap in the fifth, starting with a Tanner Hraby single. Baumgartner flew out to deep right, but Weissmiller hit a ground-rule double and Dietzman hit a sacrifice fly to score Hraby. Courtesy runner Alex Dittrich scored when Searles reached on an error.
Jackson Laskowski doubled in a run and Simonsen hit a solo homer for Rapids in the sixth. Medford threatened in the seventh but stranded two runners.
Rapids outhit Medford 9-8. Braden Lewis was the winning pitcher, allowing seven hits, two walks and five runs, four earned, in five innings. Kaleb Ellis pitched two scoreless innings on a hit with two strikeouts and two walks.
Gavin Fuchs pitched the first three innings for Medford. He struck out two, walked one and allowed four hits and five runs, four earned. Tanner Hraby allowed three hits, an unearned run and a walk while striking out one in two innings. Searles allowed two hits, two runs and a walk in one inning.
Weissmiller was two for four with two doubles. Searles and Hraby both went two for four.
After today’s game with Mosinee, Medford is scheduled to host Division 4 contender Northwood-Solon Springs in an 11 a.m. doubleheader on Saturday. The Raiders host Tomahawk Monday and Pittsville Tuesday before going to Tomahawk on April 20.
After a momentary bobble, Medford shortstop Tanner Hraby gets a force at second base for the second-to-last out of Monday’s win. Second baseman Nick Steliga is ready to cover the bag if needed.
