MEDFORD SOFTBALL - Raiders end GNC play in three-way tie

MEDFORD SOFTBALL

Ava Hartl and Chelsea Gebauer hit solo homers but that wasn’t enough for the Medford Raiders to overcome a five-run third inning that propelled Mosinee to a 7-2 victory Tuesday in the teams’ Great Northern Conference finale for 2024.

The Indians, who remain the state’s top-ranked Division 2 team at 22-1 overall, sealed a perfect 12-0 record in GNC play with the win, while Medford finished 8-4 and in a three-way tie for second place with Antigo and Lakeland. The T-Birds climbed into that tie by beating Antigo Tuesday 4-0.

Hartl’s homer to centerfield tied Tuesday’s game at 1-1 in the top of the third inning and the Raiders had a chance to do more damage. Rylee Hraby hit a oneout single and Tori Konieczny drew a twoout walk from Mosinee pitcher Ava Busse, but Busse got Gebauer to fly out to left to end the inning.

The Indians then took charge in the bottom half, keyed by a three-run homer from Maggie Woller that made it 5-1.

Gebauer’s homer closed the scoring in the sixth. Her second home run of the spring came on the first pitch of the inning. The Raiders again put a couple of runners on after the blast, but two strikeouts got Busse out of it.

Finley Arndt had two of Medford’s six hits off Busse, who struck out seven and walked two.

Konieczny got the start in the pitching circle as Medford gave its ace, Rylee Hraby a break. Konieczny struck out two, walked one and allowed seven hits and four earned runs in four innings. Kailyn Haenel walked two and gave up a hit in two scoreless innings.

At 13-10 overall, Medford did not have any more games scheduled for the regular season at press time. If the Raiders don’t make any late additions, they’ll next play Tuesday when they open WIAA Division 2 tournament play with a regional semifinal matchup at fourth-seeded Shawano (11-11). The fifth-seeded Raiders lost at Shawano 6-0 back on April 13. The winner likely earns a trip to Mosinee for the May 23 regional final.

Merrill 14, Medford 12

In a crazy home game Friday, Merrill scored 11 runs in the top of the second inning, Medford scored eight in its half and eventually tied the game, but Merrill scored three runs in the last two innings and won in non-conference play 14-12.

An early-game rain shower made it tough on both teams in that second inning, but it came down hardest in the top of the second and Medford struggled defensively with five walks and four errors helping fuel Merrill’s big inning. The Blue Jays also got some big run-scoring hits from Lexi Ollhoff, Sophie Simon, Olivia Pierce and Mia Ott.

Medford did virtually all of its damage in the bottom half with two outs, turning the game around. Laney Hraby’s infield single scored two runs, Arndt hit a tworun double, and Konieczny hit a two-run single. Zayleah Leonhardt’s two-run homer to dead center made it an 11-8 game.

Medford took advantage of Merrill miscues to tie it in the fourth. It stayed 11-11 until the top of the sixth when Ava Detert, who had made a tough catch in leftfield to thwart a potential rally in the third, doubled and Ollhoff homered.

Medford got an unearned run in the bottom half, Ollhoff singled in one in the top of the seventh and the Raiders ran into an out to short-circuit a potential rally in the bottom of the seventh.

Laney Hraby was three for four with two RBIs out of the ninth spot in the order for Medford. Konieczny was three for five with two RBIs and three runs scored. Leonhardt was two for four. Medford had nine hits.

Konieczny and Haenel handled the pitching duties for Medford. Haenel struck out three, walked three and allowed 12 hits and five runs, three of which were earned, in the last 5.2 innings. Only one of nine runs charged to Konienczny was earned.

Medford 15, Pines 8

No-hit by Rylee Hraby on April 16, Northland Pines made sure that didn’t happen again Thursday by hitting three home runs, but Medford’s production throughout the lineup was too much for the Eagles in a 15-8 slugfest.

Medford pounded out 18 hits, including four doubles and a triple while coming back convincingly after falling behind 3-0. The Raiders used the game to substitute often and spread out the playing time, inond cluding outfield starts for Jada Surek and Paige Wilkins on their Senior Night.

Kayla Baumgartner had a breakout game, going three for four with three RBIs, including a two-run double that finally got Medford on the board in the bottom of the third after the Raiders trailed 3-0. Konieczny was a homer away from the cycle while going three for five and scored three times. Addison Brahmer, Laney Hraby, Rylee Hraby and Gebauer had two hits each.

Rylee Hraby pitched the first three innings. She struck out six, walked one and allowed three hits, two of which were solo home runs by Aubrey Beyer and Carly Huelskamp, while Grace Pastorius circled the bases on a triple and an error in the second. Konieczny threw the next three innings, striking out three, walking three and allowing five hits and five runs, four of which were earned. Huelskamp hit her second homer of the day, a three-run shot in the fifth where Pines tied the game at 7-7.

Haenel pitched a scoreless seventh with two strikeouts.

Medford scored six runs in the third to go up 6-3. Ruthie Steinman had an RBI single and Rylee Hraby drove in two with a double. After Pines tied it in the fifth, Medford went right back on top with four in the bottom half, highlighted by Konienczny’s RBI triple and sacrifice flies by Rylee Hraby and Hartl. Gebauer’s two-run single to the fence drove in two of Medford’s four runs in the sixth.

Antigo 4, Medford 3

Defensive miscues in the bottom of the sixth inning haunted Medford in the top of the seventh on May 8 when a two-run rally fell short in a 4-3 loss at Antigo.

With its win, Antigo tied Medford for second place in the GNC standings at the time as both teams sat at 7-3 at the time.

Medford took a 1-0 first-inning lead as Rylee Hraby walked, worked her way to third and scored on Leonhardt’s two-out single up the middle. Medford stranded two runners in scoring position in the third. Antigo’s Tristin Arlen singled and scored on Mya Burt’s two-out double to the leftfield corner to tie it in the fourth.

The breaks all went Antigo’s way the next two innings as it opened up a 4-1 lead.

In the top of the fifth, Arndt was ruled out on a close call at first base at the back end of a 1-6-3 double play. On a virtual replay in the bottom half, Antigo’s Lilly Washatko got the call and was ruled safe at first on what have been an inning-ending 1-6-3 double play. Washatko then scored the go-ahead run on Molly Neufeld’s double to deep center.

Arlen reached on an error to start the bottom of the sixth and she got a reprieve with an error at the end of a long rundown between second and third on Burt’s fielder’s choice. Arlen scored on another error and Burt scored the eventual deciding run on Sydnie Heinzen’s sacrifice fly.

Rylee Hraby doubled off Antigo starter Bethany Lewis to start Medford’s seventhinning threat. With one out, Konieczny reached on a throwing error. Leonhardt singled to drive in Hraby as rightfielder Emma Beck couldn’t quite make the catch on the shallow looper. An error on the play scored Hraby and moved Konieczny to third. She scored on Gebauer’s sacrifice fly to right, which moved Leonhardt to third as the tying run. But Lewis induced a comebacker from Ava Hartl to end it.

Lewis got the win in the pitcher’s duel by striking out five, walking one and allowing seven hits and two earned runs. Rylee Hraby struck out six, walked none and allowed five hits and two earned runs.

Leonhardt was two for four with two RBIs. Konieczny and Brahmer had two hits apiece.