An oops, a tapper, then a blast send Raiders to final

WIAA DIV. 2 SOFTBALL

All the Medford Raiders wanted was some traffic on the base paths. For five innings in Tuesday’s WIAA Division 2 softball regional semifinal, Lakeland’s standout freshman pitcher Saylor Timmerman didn’t allow it to happen.

With the pressure mounting staring at a 2-0 deficit while being no-hit, a big defensive play in the top of the sixth gave Medford life. When the Raiders finally got two base runners in the bottom half, Laurissa Klapatauskas paid it off with a booming three-run homer to left that put them ahead to stay in a 5-2 win.

The Raiders hope that’s the spark that gets them back to firing on all cylinders as they go deeper into post-season play.

“My adrenaline was really going there,” said Klapatauskas, who also basically matched Timmerman pitch for pitch in a gem of her own. “I was thinking through all my options. If I get it in the air, the runners can tag and score. If I keep it on the ground, hopefully they bobble it. If I hit it out we’re ahead.

“I had no idea it was out actually,” she added. “I was like, ‘I popped it up, the runners are tagging, we’ve gotta score.’ And then everyone was cheering.”

“I just heard Virg yelling, ‘tag, tag,’ but I was like, ‘it’s gone,’” said Allie Paulson who was at second base at the time. “I knew right away. It was a really cool thing.” “It was awesome,” said senior Rynn Ruesch, who was in the on-deck circle. “That really set the tone for the rest of the game. That really got us all hyped.”

“We just had to get somebody on,” Medford head coach Virgil Berndt said. “I knew if we could get some people on we could make things happen.”

The inning started with number-nine hitter Madisyn Pilgrim reaching first base on a dropped third strike. Morgan Huegli bunted pinch runner Emma Brost to second and then Paulson finally broke up the no-hitter with, of all things, a little tapper between the pitching rubber and the first-base line that she beat without a throw being made. Paulson then stole second to set the stage for Klapatauskas.

The strikeout of Pilgrim was Timmerman’s 11th. The only Raiders to reach before that were Paulson on a first-inning walk and Pilgrim on a third-inning walk.

However, as Medford saw in a doubleheader sweep of Lakeland on April 29, the key to beating Lakeland’s extremely young team is to put pressure on its defense. That was key in Tuesday’s five-run sixth.

“Virg was telling us we know how their defense plays,” Ruesch said. “All we need to do was hit the ball and we’ll score runs.”

“Just put it in play,” Paulson said. Ruesch followed the home run with a solid single and moved to third on two wild pitches. Makala Ulrich walked and stole second. Hope Faude’s bunt was misplayed by first baseman Lila Biller, loading the bases for Eryka Seidl, who drove in Ruesch with a fielder’s choice. Ulrich scored on a passed ball to give Medford a three-run cushion.

Klapatauskas finished off her ninestrikeout, three-hitter by setting Lakeland (4-12) down in order in the seventh. She walked only one. Lakeland’s fourthinning runs were unearned, though her bobble of a two-out tapper hit by Karlin Williams was the catalyst for the T-Birds’ rally. A throwing error by Medford later in the inning actually scored the runs.

“I thought it was pretty decent,” Klapatauskas said after earning her fifth win of the season. “I wasn’t trying to think too much, so that helped with staying relaxed.”

While the defense hurt Medford in the fourth, it may have saved the Raiders’ season in the top of the sixth. Kieran Petrie reached on an error and Timmerman doubled down the leftfield line to put two runners in scoring position with no outs. But Klapatauskas easily threw out Hannah Louis on a bunt. Petrie hesitated while trying to score and got hung up between third and home. The Raiders perfectly executed the rundown to complete the double play. Williams struck out for the third out.

“Getting out of that inning was huge,” Berndt said.

“I think we were a little tense just with them scoring off of those mistakes,” Ruesch said. “But we were talking in the dugout saying, ‘we got this, the game’s not over yet.’ We were just trying to pick each other up the whole time through.”

Timmerman finished with 13 strikeouts, three walks and three hits allowed.

“Her rise balls are really good,” Paulson said.

“She’s got a lot of movement on it, which keeps you second-guessing,” Klapatauskas said.

The win put second-seeded Medford at 18-6 for the season and gives the Raiders another home game today, Thursday. It’s another big rivalry game as thirdseeded Antigo (15-4-1) visits for the regional final. The teams shared the Great Northern Conference title with Mosinee and split their regular-season matchups. Antigo won 3-1 in Medford on April 19, while the Raiders took a 3-2, eight-inning win at Antigo on May 4. Antigo features another pitcher Medford struggled with this spring in senior Sam Swartz.

It’s possible Medford might get ace Martha Miller back from injury. She was warming and ready to go in the seventh inning just in case Tuesday.

Tonight’s winner advances to Tuesday’s sectional semifinal against either fourth-seeded Mosinee (17-5) or top-seeded New London (20-4). New London rolled past Colby-Abbotsford 14-0 Tuesday, while Mosinee eked past Mosinee 3-2.

The sectional final is set for Thursday, June 2.

Tigers get the sweep

Medford’s regular season came to a rough end Friday when visiting New Richmond swept them 8-1 and 14-2 in a non-conference doubleheader.

The Tigers, who finished the regular season 19-3 the following day and were second in the Big Rivers Conference behind unbeaten Chippewa Falls, used a four-run first inning to take control of game one and never let it go.

Klapatauskas got two strikeouts and was potentially one pitch away from getting out of the bases-loaded jam in that inning, but New Richmond pitcher Kennedy Joachim smacked a hard single to rightfield to score two. Emma Tappe followed with another two-run single, though she was thrown out by Medford catcher Eryka Seidl while trying to advance to second to finally end the inning.

The Tigers tacked on a run on a wild pitch in the fourth, scored two in the sixth and one in the seventh. Medford’s run came in the sixth when Huegli singled and eventually scored on an error. Klapatauskas and Ruesch also had hits in the inning but were stranded.

Medford had four hits off Joachim, who struck out nine and walked one. Klapatauskas struck out eight, walked six and allowed nine hits and six earned runs. She hit a batter. Sophomore Grace Sperl made her varsity debut, pitching the last 1.1 innings and allowing two runs on three hits and two walks.

Medford fell behind 3-0 in game two and made one run at the Tigers, pulling within 3-2 in the third. Pilgrim singled with two outs, Huegli reached on an error, Paulson singled in a run and another scored on an error on a ball hit by Klapatauskas.

But the Tigers responded with a tworun fourth, added two more in the fifth and broke it open with a seven-run sixth that included seven hits. Klapatauskas pitched the first 4.1 innings and allowed six earned runs, eight hits and three walks. She struck out two and hit two. Sperl got the last five outs but was tagged with eight runs, seven of which were earned, on eight hits and three walks.

Medford had four hits off Brooklyn Swanepoel, who struck out four and walked two.

Medford’s non-conference game Thursday at Wausau West was canceled.

Medford’s Milou Van den Boogard fields this ground ball and gets an easy putout at first base on Lakeland’s Ava Garcia during the third inning of Tuesday’s 5-2 WIAA Division 2 regional semifinal win over the Thunderbirds.MATT FREY/THE STAR NEWS