Big innings plague Rib Lake in each of season’s first three games

RIB LAKE SOFTBALL

The Rib Lake softball team has had more game days (two) than outdoor practice days (one) so far this spring and it has shown at times in an 0-3 start that included a sweep by host Athens in a Marawood North doubleheader Tuesday.

An eight-run bottom of the third inning did the Lady Redmen in during an 11-1, five-inning loss in game one. The offense, which has been decent in two of the team’s three games, got some things done in game two but, again, a couple of big innings by the Blue Jays created the separation they needed in an 18-8, sixinning final.

Athens is off to a 5-0 start with four of those wins coming in Marawood North play.

Rib Lake got the first run of the doubleheader in the top of the third inning in game one. Leah Chmielowiec led off by drawing a walk from Athens starter Siarra Hart and stole second. She moved to third on a base hit to left by Tessa Krause and scored on a sacrifice fly to right by Addison Gumz.

But a leadoff double in the bottom half, followed by a sacrifice bunt, an error on a hard-hit ball and a triple opened the floodgates for Athens’ big inning that turned the game around and put it out of reach. Rib Lake thought it had an inning- ending double play on a lineout that would’ve limited the damage somewhat, but Athens got the call to extend the inning and got a couple more runs.

“It was a good game for two and a half innings and then we fell apart,” Rib Lake head coach Craig Scheithauer said of the big bottom of the third. “That was their response inning. They scored eight. It really should’ve been a five- or six-run inning. It may change things, it may not. You never know. That one kind of hurt us, but we did enough to hurt ourselves a little bit too. It was not so much that we had a lot of fielding errors. We just had a lot of mental errors.”

Hart struck out four and walked two while picking up the win for Athens. Rib Lake had just two hits with Danielle Mann collecting the other one.

Emily Rodman started in the circle for Rib Lake and went 2.2 innings. Rodman walked four and allowed six hits and eight runs, six of which were earned.

Josie Scheithauer finished up, striking out one and walking two. She allowed three hits and three earned runs.

“I think if we could’ve got a cleaner inning after we scored a run, that changes our mindset and our confidence too,” coach Scheithauer said. “But they answered and we just didn’t have an answer back. We didn’t square up a lot of balls and the ones we did, they caught.”

Playing as the home team in game two, Rib Lake gave up three quick runs in the top of the first but quickly tied it in the bottom half. Gumz singled and stole second. With two outs, Kyla Kennedy walked and senior Molly Heiser belted a three-run home run.

“I know she can hit like that,” Scheithauer said. “It’s about confidence and consistency with her approach.”

Rib Lake loaded the bases after that when Rodman and Chmielowiec walked and Krause singled on the infield but couldn’t get the big hit that would’ve put the Redmen ahead.

Unfortunately for Rib Lake, Athens put a four-spot on the board in the top of the second to go up 7-3. A dropped fly ball and a walk started it. With one out, two straight singles and a double did the damage.

“There again, we answered, but we needed a quick inning to keep the momentum going, but they scored four,” Scheithauer said.

The lead grew to 11-3 before Rib Lake got two back in the bottom of the fifth on a two-out, two-run single by Chmielowiec, who is off to a nice start out of the seventh spot in the batting order. She drove in Mann and Kennedy, who had both singled to start the inning.

Again, Rib Lake couldn’t get a shutdown inning, allowing seven runs in the top of the sixth to fall behind 18-5. Rib Lake got three runs off a new pitcher in the bottom half, but needed one more to keep the game going. Kennedy hit a tworun triple and Heiser singled her in.

The offense was much better in game two, collecting 10 hits and drawing four walks while striking out only twice.

Mann pitched the entire game for Rib Lake.

“We’re steadily getting better,” said Scheithauer, who added the team’s lone true outdoor practice was held in Medford on April 11. “We probably played Athens better than we played Chequamegon and Athens is a better team. But we’re going to see even better. Everybody’s in the same boat. This was literally our third day on a field.”

Rib Lake is making up an early-season postponement Saturday at 10 a.m. when it visits Spencer for a non-conference game. The Redmen will host Marawood North rival Prentice Monday and then visit the Buccaneers on April 28 in 4:45 p.m. starts.

Extra-inning loss

On April 12, Rib Lake and Chequamegon managed to dodge the lightning, rain and sleet long enough to get one game of a planned doubleheader in. Playing at home, Rib Lake rallied to tie the game in the sixth, but wound up losing 8-7 in eight innings.

The Lady Redmen lead game two 6-1 through two innings, but that one will have to be finished at a later date.

Rib Lake stranded two runners in scoring position in the first but took a 4-1 lead in the bottom of the second. Rodman and Chmielowiec singled and moved up on a Krause groundout to set up numbernine hitter Kiana Dallmann, who singled them in. Dallmann later scored on Josie Scheithauer’s single. Mann drove in Scheithauer with a hit.

Chequamegon got two back in the top of the third on two walks and three hits and then took a 7-4 lead with a four-run top of the fourth, which came at a point where the weather seemed to be the worst.

Rib Lake’s tying rally started with singles by Dallmann and Gumz. With two down, Kennedy reached on an error that brought both of those runners home. Heiser’s single drove in Kennedy.

Rodmen, who relieved Mann in the circle in the top of the fifth, worked around a single to get through the top of the seventh unscathed. Rib Lake nearly won it in the bottom half, getting Dallmann on base on a two-out error and Gumz also reached on an error. They were on second and third for Scheithauer, who had three hits at that point, but she was retired on a pop-up to extend the game.

“We needed somebody on with less than two outs,” Craig Scheithauer said. “We started our rally too late.”

A walk, the only one Rodman allowed in four innings, wound up scoring the winning run in the eighth after two singles.

“We had 14 hits,” Scheithauer said. “They had 12 hits, but the real difference was they didn’t walk anybody and we walked 10. Plus we had a critical error in that sloppy inning. We just had the misfortune of having the worst weather of the night while we were on defense and it affected our pitcher a little bit. We still could’ve gotten out of it.”

Rib Lake came out angry in game two, scoring six runs in the top of the first. Gumz singled, Scheithauer walked, Mann singled and Kennedy reached on an error. Heiser singled, followed by two errors. Three walks added to the rally.

Chequamegon got its run in the bottom half. Neither team scored in the second. It is uncertain yet when the game will be continued. Rodman was Rib Lake’s starting pitcher.