Once Raiders put ball in play, runs add up in 12-1 win
MEDFORD SOFTBALL
The Medford Raiders wouldn’t consider their early-season offensive slump as being completely broken, but the swings did get better Thursday as the game went on in a 12-1 Great Northern Conference win at Tomahawk.
The Raiders gave up a first-inning run, but took the lead with a four-run fourth and pulled away from there just by putting the ball in play against the Hatchets, who were playing their first game of the spring. Medford, meanwhile, broke a mini two-game losing skid while improving to 1-1 in the GNC and 4-2 overall.
Two days after getting one-hit by Antigo, the Raiders got nine hits off Tomahawk pitcher Maddy Marino. Laurissa Klapatauskas went three for four with two doubles and two runs batted in. Allie Paulson was two for three, drove in three runs and scored three times. Four other Raiders had one hit apiece.
The down side for head coach Virgil Berndt was seeing the Raiders strike out 13 times with four of those coming in the first two innings and three more coming in the fifth.
“We started to come around a little bit,” he said. “Allie hit the ball well, Laurissa hit the ball hard and a couple more had some better swings and put the ball in play. So it was a little bit more promising.”
Martha Miller went the distance for Medford, striking out 14 Hatchets while allowing five hits and one earned run. The Hatchets got that run on back-toback two-out doubles in the first inning by Marino and Macy Jankiewicz. Tomahawk had multiple base runners just one other time, in the fourth.
Marino retired seven of the first eight Raiders she faced, but things turned in the third. Eryka Seidl hit a leadoff single, was sacrificed to second by Morgan Huegli and scored on an error that followed a Miller groundout. With two down, Paulson drew a walk, Klapatauskas tied the game with a double and Rynn Ruesch followed with an RBI triple and scored on a wild pitch to put the Raiders up 4-1. They scored once without a hit in the fourth and then Makala Ulrich singled with two outs in the fifth, took second on a wild pitch, stole third and scored on an errant throw.
The lead grew to 8-1 in the sixth. Huegli walked and eventually scored on a Klapatauskas single. Paulson singled ahead of Klapatauskas and scored on a wild pitch. Paulson’s three-run triple highlighted a four-run seventh. She scored the final run on a wild pitch.
The Raiders drew six walks and were hit by four pitches. Delaney Hraby collected her first hit of the spring in the seventh.
More unseasonably cold weather canceled a non-conference game with Wausau East Monday and postponed Tuesday’s GNC contest with Lakeland. Medford hosts Tomahawk in a rematch today, Thursday, at 4:30 p.m. Lakeland will come to Medford for a 5:30 p.m. doubleheader at Jaycee Field on Friday.
Next week is busy as the Raiders go to Mosinee for a key GNC battle with the first-place Indians on Monday at 5 p.m. Northland Pines comes to Medford for a 4 p.m. doubleheader on Tuesday and the Raiders will head to Antigo Wednesday for a big GNC make-up game that starts at 4:30 p.m. The Raiders host Merrill in non-conference play May 6 at 5 p.m.
