MEDFORD BASEBALL - Mosinee gets an early rally, stops two Medford threats and cruises

MEDFORD BASEBALL

Mosinee took the lead on the game’s first pitch and the Medford Raiders gave a team that needs no offensive help plenty of it in an 11-3 home loss Monday in the Great Northern Conference baseball opener for both teams.

The unanimous pre-season favorite in the conference, Mosinee got nine hits, including two home runs, drew eight walks and took advantage of four Medford errors to lead wire-to-wire on a gray, blustery afternoon at Raider Field. While the final score was one-sided, the game was basically decided at three key points. In the top of the second inning, Medford had a chance to get out of a two-out jam unscathed but instead gave up five runs. Offensively, the Raiders let bases-loaded opportunities get away in the first and third innings where a hit or two could’ve changed the game.

Medford’s first loss dropped it to 3-1 overall. Mosinee also is 3-1.

“We had our chances early, but didn’t capitalize,” Medford head coach Justin Hraby said. “The difference in the game was that they took advantage of the free bases they got, and we didn’t.”

Strikes were hard to come by for both starting pitchers, who combined to issue 11 walks. The first strike for Tanner Hraby didn’t go well as, for the second year in a row at Raider Field, Mosinee’s Keagen Jirschele hit the first pitch of the game out of the park for a solo home run.

In the bottom half, Mosinee’s Garrett Shupe walked the bases loaded with one out, but catcher Gavin Obremski helped out his pitcher by picking off Medford’s Max Dietzman at first base and Shupe struck out Nick Steliga to end the threat.

In the top of the second, Mosinee had two on and two out for Jirschele, who pulled a sharply-hit grounder that Raider third baseman Charlie Gierl couldn’t control, but he stopped it from getting down the line and prevented a run from scoring. But now with the bases loaded, Hraby hit a rough patch, walking three straight batters to force in three runs. Steliga relieved him and was greeted with a two-run single up in the middle by Carter Fandrey that put the Raiders in a 6-0 hole.

“Tanner didn’t have his best stuff, but he will bounce back next time,” coach Hraby said.

The Raiders got one run back in the bottom half when Carson Carbaugh singled, went to third on a throwing error on a tapper hit by Hayden Strebig and scored on a wild pitch. After Steliga set down the Indians in the top of the third, the Raiders had their last big chance to get back in it, loading the bases on walks from Dietzman and Strebig and Gierl was hit by a pitch. Medford was one batter away from getting to the top of the order, but Shupe got out of it, striking out Evan Wilkins.

Medford’s offense, which had just two hits in the game, was then quiet until Braxton Weissmiller lined an RBI double to right-center and Dietzman hit an RBI ground ball in the seventh.

The left-handed hitting Obremski got a ball into the wind that carried over the fence in left-center for a two-run homer in the fourth. Brady Lokken hit a run-scoring single to left to highlight a two-run seventh but Carbaugh capped the play and the inning by throwing out a second Mosinee runner, Kolton Cherek, at home plate.

Shupe hit his 101-pitch limit in four innings, but he allowed just one hit and struck out five to minimize his seven walks and one hit batter. Zac Nechuta got a three-inning save, striking out four, walking one and allowing two earned runs and one hit.

Hraby allowed six runs, just one of which was earned, in 1.2 innings. He allowed three hits and four walks while striking out two. Steliga allowed three earned runs and four hits while walking two in 3.1 innings. Gierl struck out two, walked two and allowed two hits and two runs in two innings.

“Nick Steliga did a great job of eating up some innings and keeping us in the game when it looked like it could get out of hand,” Justin Hraby said.

Jirschele was three for five for Mosinee. The teams will face each other again today, Thursday, in Mosinee. Medford will face two strong opponents in Eleva-Strum and Denmark at UW-Stevens Point Saturday, starting at 10:30 a.m. Tomahawk is next week’s GNC opponent. The Raiders will go to Tomahawk Monday and then host the Hatchets on April 18.

2-0 at Mauston

In a revamped Woodside High School Baseball Challenge following last week’s winter storm, the Raiders got two games played Saturday against Michigan squads, beating Negaunee 12-5 and Marquette 7-1.

Early offense in both games allowed five pitchers to work with leads as they successfully ate up the 14 innings needed to complete the sweep. Medford combined for 17 hits in the two games.

Medford jumped ahead of Negaunee 8-0 through two and a half innings and tacked on four late insurance runs to earn its first win of the day. The Raiders got a run in the top of the first, four in the second and three more in the third to bury the Miners.

Tanner Hraby was two for four with four runs batted in and an inside-the-park home run in the sixth. He scored two runs. Lissner and Weissmiller also were two for four in the second and third spots in the batting order. Those three accounted for six of Medford’s 10 hits.

“The bottom of the order did a great job of setting the table for the top,” Justin Hraby said. “Tanner came through in the clutch a number of times. His inside-theparker helped turn the momentum back to our dugout. Carson had some great bunts that moved runners and got rallies going. He’s looked really good at the plate early on this season.”

Improving their small-ball game was a focus for Medford coming into the year and the Raiders made the most of putting the ball in play early. Dietzman’s groundout drove in Hraby with the first run of the game. In the second, Gierl walked, was bunted to second by Carbaugh and Strebig reached on an infield hit. Wilkins singled up the middle to score Gierl. Hraby’s groundout scored Strebig, Wilkins scored on an error on a ball hit by Lissner and, after a Weissmiller single, Lissner scored on an error on a ball hit by Dietzman.

Medford loaded the bases with no outs in the third. Strebig’s walk forced in a run and Hraby singled in two more.

Hraby led off the sixth by slicing a deep drive to the corner in right and sped around the bases, beating the throw home for his inside-the-park homer that put Medford up 9-3. Lissner followed that up with a single and later scored while Dietzman hit into a double play. Medford got its last two runs on an error and a Wilkins groundout in the top of the seventh.

Carbaugh pitched the first four innings and got the win. He struck out three, walked one and allowed four hits and two earned run. Strebig picked up a three-inning save. He allowed three runs and four hits while striking out two and walking two.

“Carson and Hayden both did a great job of pounding the zone on the mound,” Hraby said. “They both competed well and were a big reason for the win.”

Against Marquette, Medford did all of its offensive damage in the first three innings while Steliga, Gierl and Ryder Kraschnewski limited the Sentinels to four hits and a meaningless and unearned seventh-inning run to push the Raiders to 3-0 for the year at the time.

Hraby was two for four, drove in two runs and scored twice out of the leadoff spot to again spark the offense, which had seven hits and took advantage of three errors, three walks and two hit batters.

Steliga covered the first three innings and struck out three while walking two and allowing three hits. Gierl struck out four, walked one and allowed a hit in his three innings. Kraschnewski covered the seventh, retiring three straight batters following a leadoff error.

“All three of our guys on the mound were tough,” Hraby said. “Nick did a good job of getting ahead and staying ahead. Charlie’s slider was tough to hit and Ryder did a great job of throwing strikes in the seventh.”

Steliga stranded two Sentinels in the top of the first and the offense went to work in the bottom half. Hraby singled and Lissner walked. With two down, both scored when Steliga’s hard-hit ground ball was misplayed.

A four-run second gave Medford a 6-0 cushion. Strebig hit an infield single and Kraschnewski walked. Wilkins bunted to pitcher Nick Pantti and beat it out for a hit as Pantti’s throw hit Wilkins and rolled into shallow rightfield allowing Strebig to score and Krasnewski to go to third. Hraby then bounced a hard double down the leftfield line to score both runners. Hraby later scored on Weissmiller’s sacrifice fly for a 6-0 lead.

Strebig tacked on a sacrifice fly in the third. “Our outfield defense in these two games was really good,” Hraby said. “Carson, Evan, Hayden and Jack Wojcik all made some nice plays and covered a lot of ground in that big outfield.”

Parker Lissner dives back into first base ahead of a pickoff attempt by Mosinee pitcher Garrett Shupe during Monday’s first inning. Mosinee first baseman Brady Lokken takes the throw. MATT FREY/THE STAR NEWS