With 15 back, softball team opens with few question marks

Medford senior Makala Ulrich makes a throw to first base as the Raiders’ infi

After a spectacular 2021 season ended one strike shy of playing for a trip to the state tournament, the Medford Raiders return to the softball field in 2022 with almost all of their talent returning but also now with that so-called target on their backs.

While the Raiders knew they had a talented roster going into last year, their dominant 12-0 run through the Great Northern Conference and 21-3 overall mark likely surpassed most people’s expectations considering few of those players had varsity experience, especially with the Covid-19 cancellation of the 2020 season.

The expectations, of course, are different this time around. With 15 returning letter winners, the Raiders clearly enter the conference season as the team everyone wants to beat and a deep post-season isn’t just a dream. It’s something the team knows it is capable of making.

Head coach Virgil Berndt, now in his 32nd year in that position, said it’s obviously an exciting time for the program. He hopes the players understand the opportunity they have and will display the drive necessary to take advantage of it.

“This group has a chance to get back to that sectional,” Berndt said Monday. “I don’t think most of those girls realized how far they had actually gone last year. I’m going to tell them that. They were one out away from being in the sectional final and then who knows what happens. We were one strike away.

“Look at the boys basketball team. As good of a run as they had, it was 39 years since they’d been there. This would’ve been our third or fourth time being there.”

The Merrill Blue Jays ended the run last year, tying the WIAA Division 2 sectional semifinal with three seventh-inning runs and then winning it 9-6 in the eighth inning. The Jays went on to lose the sectional final 5-3 to eventual state runnerup Baldwin-Woodville.

To get another shot, the Raiders will need to keep building upon what went right last spring and will have to find the right lineup to fill a couple of gaps left by graduation.

Softball success often starts in the pitching circle and the Raiders certainly are in a good spot there with the return of Great Northern Conference Player of the Year Martha Miller and a capable number-two pitcher in senior Laurissa Klapatauskas. Miller’s honorable mention All-State season as a sophomore included school records with 18 wins and a 0.65 earned run average and she struck out 235 batters in 119.1 innings pitched.

“One thing I know she’s been working on is increasing some speed,” Berndt said. “She’s got everything else and she does work at it. She goes all over and plays and works. That would be the only thing I could see that she needs to do better. Control wise she’s good, she changes it up and mixes pitches.”

Klapatauskas was 3-1 with a 3.55 earned run averaged in 25.2 innings pitched.

“She’s got everything there,” Berndt said. “We’re going to have to have her throw because we’re going to get to some stretches where there’s a lot of games. Hopefully those two as our one-two should be dynamite.”

Defensively, Berndt expects the middle infield to be anchored by juniors Allie Paulson at shortstop and Hope Faude at second base. Paulson was named the team’s Most Improved Player at the end of last season. Klapatauskas and senior Katie Brehm are experienced at first base. Junior Morgan Huegli returns as the starting centerfielder and senior Rynn Ruesch saw most of the playing time in leftfield.

The question marks are at third base and with catching following the graduations of Delani Clausnitzer and Allie Wesle. Senior Makala Ulrich is getting the first look at third, switching from an outfield position last year. Wesle turned in a fantastic season and was the team’s biggest surprise last year at catcher. As of now, juniors Eryka Seidl and Chloe Werner and senior Milou van de Boogaard, a senior foreign exchange student from the Netherlands are vying for time at that all-important position. van de Boogaard also could figure into the first base mix. Werner, along with junior Delaney Hraby got some time at multiple positions a year ago.

“Hopefully we get a couple of surprises like we did last year, especially with Allie Wesle,” Berndt said of the defense.

Seniors Katie Lybert, Abbie Frey and Emma Brost will vie for the available outfield playing with some of the position shifts Berndt and assistant Ron Fisk are looking at.

“With Rynn, Morgan, Abbie, Emma, Katie, I know all of them can play,” Berndt said. “They just have to go out and do it. In normal years all of them could be starters.”

Offensively the Raiders averaged 10.3 runs per game a year ago, 11.5 in GNC play, and Berndt said there’s no reason they couldn’t be that explosive again. Medford had a team batting average of .356, led by Ulrich’s .473, Huegli’s .354 and Paulson’s .345. Virtually every regular in the lineup hit over .300. Klapatauskas hit a team-high four home runs and drove in a team-high 25 runs. She also scored 30 runs. Brehm hit eight doubles. Berndt said junior Madisyn Pilgrim, who hit .500 (seven for 14) off the bench last year could work her way into the lineup because of her bat. Plus, there are several solid bunters if needed. “I certainly think we can move people around and that we’ll be able to hit,” Berndt said. “We should be able to score some runs.” Speed is another asset Medford should be able to use both offensively and defensively. “We’re blessed with some speed,” Berndt said. “We have speed just about everywhere.” Figuring out the right combinations may take some time, especially with winter’s refusal to go away. The Raiders haven’t been outside other than taking some fly balls in the MAMS parking lot, the first two games of the season scheduled for this week have already been postponed and it’s going to take some luck to get home games in next week against Northland Pines and Wisconsin Rapids. Band and choir trips limited the numbers at practice last week, but the program as a whole is sitting better than it has in some time with nearly 40 girls out. “The nice thing is we’re experienced,” Berndt said of the early delays to really getting things cranked up. “We can stomach this a little bit and weather the storm. Our numbers are really good. A nice group of freshmen came in. It’s all split up pretty evenly too with between nine to 11 girls per grade. It’s perfect.”

While Medford finally wrestled the GNC championship away from Mosinee last spring, the Raiders will be challenged in their quest to make it back-toback titles. Berndt expects most every team to be better than last year. One of the newcomers GNC observers are anxious to see is Lakeland’s highly-touted freshman pitcher Saylor Timmerman, who is reportedly throwing in the 60-65 mph range.

“Everybody has their pitchers back,” he said. “I think Tomahawk is going to be better. Rhinelander and Lakeland will definitely be better. In the circle they’re going to be as tough as anybody. With Mosinee you never know. Antigo will have a good team. Northland Pines is going to hit. There’s not going to be an easy game in the conference I don’t think.”

Medford also has a solid non-conference schedule, starting with next Friday’s game with Rapids, followed the next day by the Shawano Quad, where the Raiders suffered two of their three losses last year. Merrill, Wausau East, Wausau West and New Richmond are some of the large schools on the schedule, while Phillips and Neillsville are small schools that are defending conference champions. Medford gets a regional final rematch with a rapidly-improving Hayward squad on May 9.

“After the success last year, I would sure think the girls want to come back and match that or top it,” Berndt said. “Hopefully we can make another deep run and compete for that conference title. They certainly have the tools to make that run. It’s there.”