Medford’s Legion softball averaging 15 runs per game in 4-0 start

Medford’s American Legion Post 147 Senior softball team continued to put up impressive offensive numbers Tuesday, improving to 4-0 for the summer with a 15-3 win at Marathon.

The offense came a bit later in this one as Medford broke away from a 2-2 tie by scoring 13 of its runs in the last three innings. An eight-run sixth was the big game changer.

Post 147 pounded out 18 hits in the win with Rylee Hraby going five for five with two doubles and four RBIs. Zayleah Leonhardt drove in five runs while going two for three, including a clinching tworun homer in the seventh. Finley Arndt was three for five, while Addison Brahmer, Laney Hraby and Ruthie Steinman added two hits each.

Rylee Hraby struck out 12, walked one and allowed seven hits and three runs, two of which were earned, in six innings. Kailyn Haenel struck out two in the seventh.

Post 147 jumped ahead 2-0 right off the bat. Brahmer singled, stole second and scored on Arndt’s single. Rylee Hraby doubled, putting Arndt in position to score on Leonhardt’s sacrifice fly.

Marathon and its pitcher Allison Podjaski kept Medford in check over the next three innings and it tied the game with a two-run homer by Chayce Westfall in the fourth. Post 147 broke the tie in the fifth with Brahmer singling and scoring on a Rylee Hraby single and Leonhardt hitting another sacrifice fly.

Most of the damage in the sixth was done with two outs and was aided by four Marathon errors. Key hits in the inning included an RBI bunt single by Rylan Kraschnewski, a two-run single by Rylee Hraby, an RBI double from Leonhardt and run-scoring singles by Laney Hraby, Haenel and Steinman.

Medford 15, Witt-Birn 5

In the team’s home opener at JC Field June 18, Post 147 put up three crooked numbers to run away from Wittenberg-Birnamwood 15-5 in six innings.

The visitors got an early jump on Medford with three runs in the top of the first, but after that, Post 147 scored seven in the bottom of the first, three in the bottom of the fourth and five in the sixth to end the game early.

Medford smacked 16 hits, six of which went for doubles. Haenel struck out five and allowed four hits and four walks in the first three innings. Rylee Hraby closed it out with eight strikeouts and two walks in three scoreless, hitless innings.

The offense took advantage of two early errors to build the big rally in the first. Brahmer started the inning by singling up the middle and stealing second base. Arndt reached on an error and Rylee Hraby followed with a sacrifice fly to score Brahmer. Another error on a ball hit by Leonhardt then opened the floodgates. Arndt scored on the play. Laney Hraby was hit by a pitch. With two outs, Kayla Baumgartner singled in a run and Haenel drove a ball to deep centerfield for a tworun, tie-breaking double. After Steinman walked, another error on a looper hit by Kraschnewski scored two more runs.

Wittenberg-Birnamwood got within 7-5 in the third, but Medford pulled away from there. In the fourth, Arndt drove in a run with a sacrifice fly and Rylee Hraby doubled in two more, though the inning ended when she tried to stretch the hit to a triple.

In the sixth, Kraschnewski and Brahmer hit back-to-back doubles, Arndt singled in Brahmer and Leonhardt, Laney Hraby and Baumgartner singled in the last three runs.

Baumgartner went three for four at the plate. Brahmer, Arndt, Rylee Hraby and Kraschnewski had two hits each.

Medford 19, Tomahawk 3

On June 17, Post 147 had no trouble in Tomahawk, scoring in every inning of a 193, four-inning rout.

It was 4-0 when Medford broke the game wide open with a nine-run third. The visitors added six runs in the top of the fourth before Tomahawk finally got on the board with three in the bottom half but could not avoid the 15-run rule.

Brahmer, Arndt, Rylee Hraby and Steinman all had three hits apiece and Leonhardt was two for four with two doubles and four runs driven in. Haenel added two hits and Brahmer and Rylee Hraby each drove in three runs.

Rylee Hraby struck out eight and walked one in three hitless innings. Haenel struck out two, walked two and allowed two hits and three runs in the fourth.

After scoring two runs in the first, Medford got a tworun double from Brahmer in the second. The big third inning started with a single from Rylee Hraby. She scored on Leonhardt’s double. Baumgartner drove in a run with an infield hit. Steinman, Brahmer, Arndt and Rylee Hraby had RBI singles and Sophie Koester and Jolie Steliga drove in runs with groundouts.

Leonhardt’s two-run double was the big hit in the fourth.

Medford’s Junior Legion team is off to a 3-3 start. Post 147 has defeated Wausau 9-5, Tomahawk 14-7 and Marathon 13-7 and has been defeated by Wittenberg-Birnamwood 7-2, Shawano 11-0 and Wausau 8-1.