RIB LAKE SOFTBALL - Lost opportunities hurt when Phillips cashes in during 7th inning

RIB LAKE SOFTBALL

The Rib Lake softball team clearly had more scoring opportunities Monday, but the visiting Phillips Loggers took better advantage of theirs, especially in a fourrun top of the seventh, and stole a 6-5 win in a Marawood North heartbreaker for the Redmen.

That four-run seventh wiped out a 5-2 Rib Lake lead and gave the Loggers some revenge after Rib Lake pounded them 14-2 six days earlier.

From Rib Lake’s perspective, it was a result that could have been avoided had it come up with one more hit.

“We didn’t finish, but we also didn’t start,” head coach Craig Scheithauer said. “We just never got going offensively. We loaded the bases with no outs in the first inning and didn’t score. That was just as big as the last inning was. We left 15 runners on base, including eight in scoring position.”

Rib Lake outhit the Loggers 5-4 and drew 11 walks compared to the five Phillips got. There were a couple of errors mixed in, but Phillips only truly took advantage of one, along with four walks, in the last inning.

“We just did not hit the ball well,” Scheithauer said. “They hit four doubles and all four doubles pretty much scored the runs for them.”

Alie Williams hit a three-run double to tie the game with two outs in the top of the seventh. An intentional walk set up a potential force play and Rib Lake got the ground ball it wanted, but the Redmen didn’t execute defensively loading the bases. A wild pitch that bounced high off the front of the plate brought in what wound up being the winning run.

Before that, Phillips grabbed a 1-0 lead on a first-inning run. Rib Lake left the bases loaded in the bottom half, stranded two runners in the second and then tied it in the third. Avery Niemi walked, Tessa Weik blooped a single to left and Josie Scheithauer reached on catcher’s interference to load the bases with no outs. After an infield fly, Kiana Dallmann hit a drive to center that was dropped but likely would have been a sacrifice fly anyway.

A strikeout and groundout, however, left the bases loaded, giving Rib Lake eight stranded runners through three innings.

The Loggers took the lead back with two doubles in the top of the fourth. Rib Lake grabbed its first lead in the bottom half. Addison Gumz walked and scored on Tahlia Scheithauer’s hard-hit double to left-center. Scheithauer went to third on a passed ball and, after Niemi walked, Weik grounded a single through the left side for a run batted in. The Redmen, though, left the bases loaded again and settled for a 3-2 lead.

Two runs in the sixth made things a bit more comfortable, or so it seemed. Josie Scheithauer walked. An error on a ball hit by Leah Chmielowiec put another runner on and Dallmann singled to drive in Scheithauer. Gumz later drew a basesloaded walk.

“That’s what we wanted,” Craig Scheithauer said. “We never really got started, but we thought we’ll take it. We had their seven, eight and nine hitters coming up, so we had it set up just right.”

Josie Scheithauer got the first out on a strikeout, but then walks loaded the bases. An infield fly put Rib Lake one out away from the win, but Williams’ big hit prevented it.

Josie Scheithauer struck out nine and walked five in what, for the most part was a strong outing. Weik had two hits, while Dallmann, Lily Butler and Tahlia Scheithauer added one apiece.

Brooke Eckert got the win for Phillips, striking out five.

“We drew 11 walks, so we were patient,” Craig Scheithauer said. “We just didn’t look like we were on time. We didn’t hit like we should have.”

The loss dropped Rib Lake to 3-3 in the Marawood North and 7-7 overall. The Redmen are now tied for second in the conference with Chequamegon. Those two teams will finish league play with a 4 p.m. doubleheader today, Thursday, in Rib Lake after Tuesday’s first matchup in Park Falls was postponed due to rain.

Rib Lake is scheduled to host Stratford on Friday in a Marawood crossover.

Saturday brings a trip to the Plainfield Tri-County tournament. A tough non-conference game at Medford is now on the schedule for Monday.

Seeding for Division 5 tournament play took place Wednesday. Regionals start May 16 for the bottom four seeds in the 10-team sectional half-bracket.