RIB LAKE SOFTBALL - Redmen sweep Prentice; another one slips away against rival Athens

RIB LAKE SOFTBALL

After two disappointing losses to Athens last week, the Rib Lake softball team took care of business with three-inning wins over Prentice on back-to-back days to get back to even in the Marawood North standings.

The second of those came Tuesday in a 19-0 win at Prentice as Josie Scheithauer and Tessa Weik combined to throw a mini no-hitter and Weik went three for four with four runs batted in, two doubles and a two-run homer in Rib Lake’s 15-run second inning.

Avery Niemi went three for three and also drove in four runs for the Redmen, who now sit at 2-2 in the North and 5-4 overall after a busy stretch of four games in five days.

Rib Lake and Prentice beat the rain Tuesday but played in extremely windy conditions. The Redmen jumped ahead 4-0 in the top of the first, getting a runscoring single from Niemi and an RBI double from Weik.

The Redmen sent 20 batters to the plate in the monster second inning, where they got nine of their 11 hits and took advantage of walks, passed balls and hit batters as well.

Kara Kennedy singled for the first hit and came around to score on passed balls. Niemi singled in a run, Weik doubled in a run and Josie Scheithauer and Leah Chmielowiec singled the first time Rib Lake got through the order in the inning. Kennedy singled in a run as did Tahlia Scheithauer. Niemi doubled in a pair, then Weik unloaded her bomb to left-center that may have gotten some help from the wind, but it certainly didn’t need any, clearing the fence by plenty.

Josie Scheithauer struck out five batters and walked one. Weik struck out the side in the third after Caitlyn Holm led off the inning by reaching on an error.

In Rib Lake Monday, Tahlia Scheithauer allowed one hit while striking out four and the Redmen scored seven runs in each of the first two innings to put the Buccaneers away quickly 15-0. Rib Lake again had 11 hits, including three each from Josie Scheithauer and Niemi.

Addison Gumz and Tahlia Scheithauer reached on errors to set up Niemi’s tworun single to start Rib Lake’s first-inning rally. Chmielowiec was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, Kiana Dallmann singled in a run, Kennedy walked in a run. Gumz singled in one, Tahlia Scheithauer was hit by a pitch with sacks full and Niemi drove in the seventh run on a fielder’s choice.

Josie Scheithauer led off the second with a triple and scored on a Dallmann single. Gumz had a run-scoring single and Josie Scheithauer capped the inning with a two-run single. Niemi’s double drove in Kennedy with the clinching run in the third that ended the game.

Gumz and Dallmann had two hits apiece for Rib Lake. The two losses dropped Prentice to 0-4 in league play and 0-7 overall.

The Redmen will step outside of conference play in the next week, visiting Wisconsin Rapids Assumption for a Marawood crossover Friday and then visiting a strong Columbus Catholic squad Monday in Marshfield.

St. Agnes 12, Rib Lake 2

Rib Lake headed to Northwestern College in St. Paul Saturday where it ran into a tough squad from St. Agnes, Minn. who rolled to a 12-2 win in five innings.

Angela Proper struck out six Redmen and limited them to six hits, plus she was three for four at the plate.

“We faced a good pitcher there,” Rib Lake head coach Craig Scheithauer said. “She was a lefty, she had good control and controlled her change-up, so that was a good matchup for us.”

Four-run rallies in the top of the first and third innings put Rib Lake in a hole it couldn’t pull itself out of. St. Agnes added two runs in the fourth and fifth innings as well.

Rib Lake got its runs in the first and third innings. Gumz singled to lead off the bottom of the first and scored on Niemi’s one-out single. Gumz led off the third with a hit and scored on a two-out single by Josie Scheithauer.

Gumz did her job in the leadoff spot, going three for three, stealing two bases and scoring both runs. Niemi was two for three and Josie Scheithauer was one for two.

Josie Scheithauer went the distance in the circle and was charged with six earned runs while allowing eight hits and five walks. She struck out two.

Athens 11, Rib Lake 10

The heartbreaker of the week certainly was Rib Lake’s 11-10, eight-inning loss at Athens Friday. Three days after falling 8-7 at home to the Blue Jays, Rib Lake fell behind 7-2 after a disastrous six-run third for Athens, came right back to tie it in the fourth, took a 10-7 lead in the sixth and still had that lead in the seventh but couldn’t hang on.

“I feel like we were better twice and one more catch in either game we win both of them,” Craig Scheithauer said. “That makes winning the conference pretty tough. If we split with them, I would’ve liked our chances.”

Like the first game, errors were the major factor that kept Rib Lake from finally knocking off their conference nemesis.

Two errors led to a run in the second that cut Rib Lake’s early 2-0 lead in half. A throwing error on a bunt was a turning point in the big third inning.

Rib Lake’s big fourth inning started with singles by Chmielowiec and Dallmann. With one out, an error on a ball hit by Kennedy scored a run. Tahlia Scheithauer drew a two-out walk and Niemi hit an RBI single. Weik walked to set up Josie Scheithauer’s two-run double that tied it.

The Redmen did their sixth-inning damage with two outs. Weik singled and scored on Josie Scheithauer’s triple. An error on a ball hit by Chmielowiec brought in Scheithauer and Dallmann added an RBI single.

Weik, on in relief of Tahlia Scheithauer, set Athens down in order in the sixth, but Autumn Diethelm started the bottom of the seventh with a triple. A groundout and an error were followed by a popout to get Rib Lake an out away from the win, but a walk to Sophia Coker was followed by a double from Sydney Coker that tied it.

Rib Lake loaded the bases with one out in the eighth, but Athens reliever Karly Eckert pitched out of the jam with a strikeout and a groundout.

Abby Diethelm’s one-out double got the winning rally started in the bottom of the eighth. Autumn Diethelm was intentionally walked and Rib Lake got the ground ball out it was looking for from Paige Westaby. An intentional walk to Jazelle Hartwig loaded the bases and set up a force at any base for the potential third out, but a pitch that got to the backstop instead brought in the winning run.

Rib Lake had 14 hits off Danica Deithelm and Eckert. Dallmann was three for five, Niemi was three for five and Weik was three for four. Josie Scheithauer was two for four with four RBIs. Tahlia Scheithauer went four innings and struck out three and walked three. She allowed just two hits and seven runs, two of which were earned. Weik went the last 3.2 innings and allowed five hits and three walks. One of the four runs charged to her was earned.