Raiders avoid early upset, get Merrill next in regional final
WIAA DIV. 2 SOFTBALL
It didn’t take long for the top-seeded Medford Raiders to get put on upset alert in the WIAA Division 2 softball postseason, but they survived it, outlasting eighth-seeded Rhinelander 3-2 in nine innings in Tuesday’s regional semifinal and earning a shot at a third straight regional title today, Thursday.
Medford had chances to make things easier in its tournament opener, but key hits were hard to find against Rhinelander’s senior ace Addi DeMeyer until freshman Finley Arndt and senior Allie Paulson led off the bottom of the ninth with solid singles. Arndt yanked a grounder through the left side and Paulson drilled a line drive to center to get the winning run in scoring position.
“When Finley got her hit, I was just like, ‘I gotta go,’” said Paulson, who went three for four in the win. “The first swing was a good pitch but I fouled it off. Then I was like the next pitch, I’m going to get. It was kinda right down the middle.”
“I knew (head coach Virgil Berndt) wanted it on the ground so I was hoping to just get a ground ball, I did, so here we go,” Arndt said. “Then as I just kept making it around, I was hoping Z would get a hit and she did.”
Z would be clean-up hitter Zayleah Leonhardt. After a passed ball put Arndt just 60 feet from home plate, Leonhardt hit a bouncer to Hodag third baseman Laney Haenel and Arndt took off for home, sliding under the tag from catcher Maddi Roeser and sending 21-2 Medford to today’s 5 p.m. regional final against fifth-seeded Merrill, an 8-2 winner Tuesday at fourth-seeded Antigo.
“I was honestly hoping for a passed ball so I wouldn’t have to worry about getting thrown out or anything,” Arndt said. “But once Z got that hit I just ran. The throw was there, but it was high so I got under it.”
Berndt said at the start of the season a big key to Medford’s success would be situational hitting and it nearly failed them in the first eight innings.
The Raiders got ahead quickly in the first with Martha Miller bunting for a hit, going to second on a passed ball, stealing third and scoring when Paulson beat out an infield hit to the right side. What looked like a potential rally died there and the Hodags answered in the top of the second on DeMeyer’s infield hit, a wild pitch and two groundouts with the last one coming from Haenel to drive in DeMeyer.
The Raiders stranded two runners in the second, but got a run in the third to regain the lead. Paulson singled up the middle with one out, moved to second on Leonhardt’s grounder and Eryka Seidl singled to right. Berndt initially held Paulson at third, but the throw to the plate from rightfield got away, allowing Paulson to scoot home.
Medford threatened to break it open in the fourth, but left the bases loaded when Paulson flied out to right. Morgan Huegli was caught stealing second after singling with two outs in the fifth.
Gaining confidence by hanging around, the Hodags seized an opportunity in the sixth. Leadoff hitter Abigale Johnson singled and, after Miller got one of her 18 strikeouts, Roeser put down a sacrifice bunt to get Johnson to second. Berndt played the odds and intentionally walked DeMeyer, who homered against Miller earlier in the year in the Hodag Dome to set up force plays on the bases and face number-five hitter Lily Treder. Treder, though, lined a two-strike single to right to bring in Johnson with the tying run and went to second on the throw. With runners at second and third, Miller got another big strikeout, fanning Haenel to keep the game tied.
Medford went down in order in the sixth. Miller shut down the Hodags in the top of the seventh, aided by a successful pickoff throw by Seidl, Medford’s catcher. Then Medford seemed poised to win it in the seventh when Miller walked, stole second and went to third on a one-out passed ball. Rhinelander head coach DJ DeMeyer then elected to intentionally walk Paulson and Leonhardt to load the bases and it worked out for the Hodags when Seidl struck out and Huegli hit a bullet that was snagged by second baseman Nora Rutkowski to end the threat.
“She was really on,” Paulson said of Addi DeMeyer, who struck out 12 Raiders. “She’s always been a really good pitcher. Tonight she was really on, really mixing it up and throwing it really good, so it was hard to get on her.”
Miller struck out the side in the eighth, but DeMeyer did the same, working around a Chelsea Gebauer hit in the bottom half. Miller got two strikeouts and a comebacker to keep the game tied into the bottom of the ninth.
Rhinelander had five hits in its loss, two from number-eight hitter Kadyn Taylor. The intentional walk was the only run Miller issued. The Raiders had no errors defensively, which was big. That effort was highlighted by two nice plays by second baseman Hope Faude that took away base hits.
“She bailed us out,” Berndt said. “If she doesn’t make those two plays, we don’t make it to the eighth inning.”
Merrill comes into the regional final at just 8-11, but a 5-4 win over a D.C. Everest team that beat Medford 2-1 last week is proof that the Blue Jays can’t be taken lightly. Plus Raider fans surely haven’t forgotten Merrill ended Medford’s season in the sectional semifinal two years ago with an upset win. “Maybe this is good in that it tells us that we can lose to anybody,” Berndt said.
Thursday’s winner advances to the sectional semifinal Tuesday against either third-seeded New London or secondseeded Mosinee. Mosinee beat Medford 3-2 on May 10. New London ended Medford’s 2022 season in the sectional semifinal round. The higher seed will host Tuesday’s game.
Mosinee is the site for the June 1 sectional final.
Medford’s Martha Miller steals second base in the bottom of Tuesday’s seventh inning as Rhinelander shortstop Lucy Lindner can’t reach the throw from catcher Maddi Roeser.MATT FREY/THE STAR NEWS
