Pitchers combine for 17 strikeouts in opening win over Marathon
MEDFORD SOFTBALL
Martha Miller and Laurissa Klapatauskas got 17 of the 21 outs by strikeout Tuesday afternoon and the offense, while not spectacular, got the lead early in a 6-0 win over Marathon in Medford’s softball season opener.
Scheduled late on Monday after Medford’s game with Northland Pines and Marathon’s game with Chequamegon could not be played on their home fields, the trip to Mauston’s Woodside Sports Complex gave the Raiders their first chance to get on a field and they took advantage, holding the Red Raiders to just two hits while collecting seven.
Miller settled in quickly in the pitching circle, striking out 15 batters in six innings, walking none and getting the other three outs on weak ground balls. Klapatauskas closed it out in the seventh, striking out the first two batters and retiring the third on another weak grounder.
Ella Altfillisch and Bridget Salber were Marathon’s only base runners, singling to left in the third and fourth innings.
The Raiders, on the other hand, had a fair amount of base traffic. They didn’t take full advantage of it, but they did more than enough to support their pitchers.
Klapatauskas yanked a two-out double down the leftfield line in the bottom of the first inning and scored when Madisyn Pilgrim poked a single through the hole on the right side of the infield.
A two-run second extended the lead to 3-0. Rynn Ruesch drew a leadoff walk, stole second and scored on Makala Ulrich’s double down the rightfield line. Ulrich stole third and scored when Marathon bobbled a ball hit by Eryka Seidl.
The Raiders had a chance to break the game wide open in the third but left the bases loaded. In the fourth, Seidl led off with a single, stole second, was bunted to third by Miller and scored on a groundout by Allie Paulson. Medford tacked on its last two runs in the bottom of the sixth. Milou van de Boogaard drew a leadoff walk and Miller hit an infield single off the glove of pitcher Kayla Radtke with van de Boogaard taking third on an additional error on the play. That allowed Miller to steal second on the next pitch. A passed ball brought in the first run and, after Paulson walked, Miller scored while Paulson was thrown out trying to steal second.
Pilgrim was two for three and Klapatauskas was two for four with a double and triple to lead the offense. Miller, Ulrich and Seidl had a hit apiece. Radtke went the distance for Marathon (0-3), striking out three and walking four.
Medford’s next attempt to play will come Friday. A game originally scheduled to be played at home is now planned to be played at Wisconsin Rapids at 5 p.m. Saturday’s Shawano Quad has been moved to Rhinelander’s Hodag Dome. Medford will play Shawano and Appleton East at 4:30 and 6:30 p.m. Next week’s schedule currently shows the Raiders visiting Phillips in non-conference play Monday at 4:45 p.m., hosting Rhinelander in the GNC opener Tuesday and go- ing to Mosinee on April 14. Those games start at 5 p.m.
