MEDFORD SOFTBALL - Raiders roll over Hatchets, look to lock down 2nd place this week
MEDFORD SOFTBALL
The Medford Raiders set up a battle for second place in the Great Northern Conference’s softball title chase with a convincing 11-3 home win over Tomahawk Monday afternoon.
The Raiders built an early 6-0 lead, outhit the Hatchets 11-4 and got 10 strikeouts from pitcher Rylee Hraby while improving to 7-2 in league play and 10-6 overall.
Medford took a one-game lead over 6-3 Antigo in the race for second behind 9-0 Mosinee, who is on the verge of clinching the conference title.
Due to Tuesday’s stormy weather, Medford’s game at Antigo was postponed to Wednesday, after this week’s deadline for The Star News. Antigo won the first meeting between the teams 6-3 back on April 11.
Finley Arndt, Zayleah Leonhardt, Chelsea Gebauer and Jada Surek all had two hits for Medford in Monday’s win.
Arndt had a single and was one of two runners to score when Tomahawk mishandled Leonhardt’s ground ball in the bottom of the first. Medford put four more runs on the board in the second.
Surek started it with a single and Addison Brahmer bunted for a hit. Both grabbed an extra base when Tomahawk failed to cover third base. Ruthie Steinman drew a walk from Tomahawk’s starting pitcher Kayleigh Haring to load the bases. Haring got a big out by striking out Rylee Hraby, but Arndt’s base hit drove in a run, two runs scored on wild pitches and Tori Konieczny drove in the fourth run of the inning with a groundout.
Tomahawk got its first two runs in the top of the fourth. Averi Petta walked and Macy Jankiewicz singled with an error on the play allowing Petta to score and Jankiewicz to go to second. Her courtesy runner, Maddy Baumann, scored on Khianna Vacho’s double.
But Medford got its six-run cushion right back in the bottom half. Singles by Konieczny and Gebauer off Petta set up Surek’s RBI single. Ava Hartl scored on a passed ball after reaching on a fielder’s choice.
A three-run sixth put the game well out of reach. Leonhardt and Gebauer started it with singles and Kayla Baumgartner bunted for a hit to load the bases with no outs. Surek drove in a run with a fielder’s choice. A run scored on a wild pitch and Hraby’s two-out single scored Kyanna Mallien to make it 11-2.
Hraby walked just two batters in her four-hit complete game. Tomahawk fell to 3-7 in league play and 8-10 overall with the loss. The game was pushed back four days due to a drenching rain that hit the area Thursday.
Wednesday’s game at Antigo starts an extremely busy week for Medford. The Raiders host Northland Pines in GNC play today, Thursday, at 4:30 p.m. and then host Merrill Friday in a 5 p.m. non-conference game.
Medford is set to play in Saturday’s Gilman-Thorp Slamfest. The Raiders have been assigned to the Thorp site, where they will play Fall Creek at noon and Stratford at 4 p.m.
In a schedule change, Medford will host Rib Lake in a neighborly non-conference game Monday at 5 p.m. GNC play concludes Tuesday with a 5 p.m. game at Mosinee.
