hitter Addi DeMeyer to get ….

hitter Addi DeMeyer to get an at-bat and she launched a two-run homer to dead center to put the Hodags up 2-0.

The Raiders, playing as the hosts, loaded the bases in the bottom of the first but only got Seidl’s sacrifice fly out of it after DeMeyer relieved Libby Buchman after Buchman faced just two batters, walking one and hitting one. The Hodags tacked on an unearned run and held Medford scoreless in the second inning.

Clutch hits, though, have been huge for Medford in tight spots so far this season and the Raiders got two of them in the third to take the lead for good.

Leonhardt singled with one out. Surek walked with two out and Tori Konieczny was hit by a pitch to bring up Gebauer. She dropped a looper into shallow left that knocked in pinch runners Emily Kiselicka and Steinman to tie the game. Konieczny wound up at third and Gebauer took second on the throw home.

Huegli came up next and hit a liner down the rightfield line to put Medford in front 5-3.

From there, Miller slammed the door on Rhinelander’s offense, while the Raiders kept adding on. Starting to lay off DeMeyer’s pitches just above the strike zone, Medford walked the bases loaded in the fourth. Surek drove in a run by getting hit with a pitch and Konieczny hit a sacrifice fly to make it 7-3.

A four-run fifth broke the game open at 11-3 with Laney Haenel now pitching for the Hodags. Paulson drove in a run with a groundout and Leonhardt singled in another. Huegli led off the bottom of the sixth with a double and was singled in by Hartl. Walks loaded the bases with one out for Seidl, who hit a tapper toward third and the throw home for a force play was dropped, scoring the last run.

Huegli was two for three with two RBIs and two runs scored out of the ninth spot in the batting order. Leonhardt was two for two. The hits for Medford continued to come from a variety of sources, which Berndt said after the game is making it tough for him to settle on a lineup because he has more capable hitters than spots on the card.

DeMeyer allowed six runs in four innings pitched, walked seven, hit two and struck out two while taking the loss. Her homer was one of three Rhinelander hits.