MEDFORD SOFTBALL - Raiders get first win, then fall to Bulldogs and T-Birds in the Dome

MEDFORD SOFTBALL

The Medford Raiders generally hit the softball well, threw strikes at a solid rate, made some defensive plays and missed some key ones as well during a 1-2 seasonopening trip to Rhinelander’s Danny Mac Softball Classic.

Medford easily won its opener 11-1 over Kingsford, Mich. on Thursday night and then lost twice on Friday to finish fourth in its eight-team bracket. Defending WIAA Division 2 state runner-up New London beat Medford 14-9 in the Friday morning game and the Raiders’ Great Northern Conference rival Lakeland beat the Raiders 7-3 in the afternoon thirdplace game.

Medford’s Tuesday home and GNC opener against Rhinelander was postponed to April 26. The Raiders are scheduled to host Lakeland Tuesday and travel to Hayward April 4 if conditions allow. The team will head south to the Woodside High School Softball Challenge April 5-6 when it’s scheduled to face Kewaunee, Stoughton and Reavis, Ill.

Lakeland 7, Medford 3

In the third-place game, Medford got its first look of the season at the Great Northern Conference’s expected top pitcher of the next two years, Saylor Timmerman. The Raiders held their own, striking out just five times and collecting seven hits –– including two apiece from Rylee Hraby and Zayleah Leonhardt –– but some defensive breakdowns allowed the T-Birds to pull away for the win.

Lakeland beat Marshfield 4-0 in its first game of the tournament and lost a 1-0 pitcher’s duel to Auburndale in a game where there was just one hit between the teams.

A two-out error allowed Lakeland to score two unearned runs in the bottom of the first. Medford cut the lead in half in the top of the second when Addison Brahmer drew a one-out walk, stole second and scored when Lakeland threw away Jolie Steliga’s sacrifice bunt.

But a three-run bottom of the fourth gave Lakeland a 5-1 lead and all the cushion Timmerman needed. Walks put two runners on with one out. Allyson Seaburg blooped in a double and Malia Newport singled to drive in the three runs, though the Raider defense made a nice play to cut down Newport as she tried to go to second.

Timmerman doubled and scored on a base hit by Karin Williams in the fifth. Williams came around to score on an error as well.

Finley Arndt and Rylee Hraby got hits with two outs in the top of the seventh and Victoria Konieczny walked ahead of Zayleah Leonhardt’s two-run single that closed the scoring.

Hraby pitched the first four innings, collecting six strikeouts, she walked four, including two intentional walks to Timmerman and allowed four hits. Konieczny pitched the fifth and sixth innings and got two strikeouts. Second baseman Laney Hraby and Arndt at shortstop turned a beautiful 4-6-3 double play on a ball hit by Timmerman in the sixth.

New London 14, Medford 9

In the semifinal round, Medford had 13 hits and made things interesting late with a four-run fifth inning, but the defense couldn’t hold down New London in a 14-9 defeat.

The Bulldogs banged out 15 hits of their own against three Medford pitchers and took advantage of seemingly every miscue the Raiders made defensively. Number-two hitter Jensen Mix was four for five and scored twice for New London and leadoff hitter Eve Hedtke was three for four with an RBI and two runs scored to lead the Bulldogs, who won the championship game later on Friday 12-1 over Auburndale.

Kenna Mix, who was the winning pitcher over Medford in the last two sectional semifinals, did not pitch for New London, instead starting the game at third base. The Raiders did their damage against freshman Ellie Winkelman, who pitched into the fifth inning, and sophomore Makayla Kelley, who got the last nine outs.

New London led 11-2 through four innings when Medford made its push with a five-run top of the fifth. Arndt led off with a ground-rule double off Winkelman and scored on Rylee Hraby’s single that was turned into three bases on an error by the rightfielder. Hraby scored on a misplayed ball hit by Konieczny. Leonhardt scored. After a wild pitch, Gebauer knocked in a run with a single, the Raiders got a run on a successful double steal and Kailyn Haenel knocked in the last run of the inning with a two-out single.

New London got one run back in its half of the inning and tacked on two more to go back up by seven before Gebauer capped a big game at the plate by knocking out a two-run homer just over the centerfield fence in the top of the seventh.

Gebauer went three for four with three runs scored and three RBIs. Leonhardt also went three for four with an RBI single in the first inning.

Head coach Virgil Berndt shifted players defensively throughout the game. The Raiders got out of the first when Gebauer, playing third base, speared a liner hit by Winkelman to strand two runners. Medford wasn’t as fortunate in the second as Mix’s RBI triple highlighted a four-run New London rally.

Rylee Hraby pitched the first two innings. Konieczny entered in the third and was one out away from getting out of the inning after walking the first two batters. Catcher Ruthie Steinman threw out Winkelman trying to steal third and the Raiders got a ground-ball out but New London wound up scoring two on a wild pitch and an error to go up 6-1. After Ava Hartl’s RBI groundout in the top of the fourth, New London scored five in the bottom half on four hits, a key throwing error on a would-be strikeout, another error and a walk.

Medford 11, Kingsford 1

In a late switch, Medford’s first opponent in the tournament was changed from Shawano to the Kingsford, Mich. Flivvers, who were no match for the Raiders in an 11-1, six-inning contest Thursday night.

Rylee Hraby singled and scored on a double steal in the top of the first then Medford broke the game wide open with a seven-run third inning that included six walks, an error and hits by Leonhardt and Gebauer. An RBI groundout by Laney Hraby and RBI single by Arndt made it 10-0 before the Flivvers got their run in the bottom half. Medford closed the game out with an RBI single by Leonhardt in the top of the sixth.

Rylee Hraby got the win, going 3.2 innings and allowing just one hit and one walk while striking out seven. Haenel pitched the last 2.1 innings and allowed a run and two hits while striking out three.

Arndt and Leonhardt each had two of Medford’s six hits.