RIB LAKE SOFTBALL - Rally from 9-0 hole sparks DH sweep; Rib Lake 1-1-1 at tourney

RIB LAKE SOFTBALL

The first game carried late-inning drama, the second game did not and both games featured plenty of offense Thursday as the Rib Lake softball team clinched second place in the Marawood North with a doubleheader sweep of Chequamegon.

On Senior Night in Rib Lake, sophomore Tahlia Scheithauer came up with the big hit in game one, smacking a double with the bases loaded for a walk-off, tworun double with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning to clinch the Redmen’s 16-15 win.

Following their 26-hit attack in game one, Rib Lake had just eight hits in game two, but drew eight walks, used a 10-run top of the fifth and rode the pitching of Kiana Dallmann to seal a 15-1 win.

Rib Lake finished 5-3 in North play, a game ahead of third-place Phillips. Athens won the league at 8-0. The Redmen and Blue Jays could see each other one more time next week in WIAA Division 5 tournament play. Game one against the Screaming Eagles got off to an ominous start as Chequamegon jumped ahead 9-0 through two and a half innings. But once the offense got a look at soft-tossing Anya Brenholt the first time through the batting order, the Redmen were ready the second time through.

Rib Lake sent 11 hitters to the plate in the third, scoring seven runs to get right back in it. Tessa Weik gave the offense its first jolt with a three-run homer. Josie Scheithauer doubled, Leah Chmielowiec and Lily Butler singled in runs and Madilyn Blomberg hit an RBI triple.

Jene’ Sherwinski hit the first of her two runs to put Chequamegon up 11-7 in the top of the fourth, but Rib Lake scored four in the bottom half to tie it with Blomberg’s two-run single being the big hit. Another four-spot in the top of the fifth, including another two-run blast by Sherwinski, put the Eagles up 15-11, but Rib Lake chipped away from there.

Chmielowiec and Dallmann had RBI singles in the bottom of the fifth, Avery Niemi doubled in a run in the sixth to make it 15-14. In the seventh, Dallmann, Butler and Blomberg all singled with one out to load the bases for the top of the order. Brenholt got Addison Gumz to pop out, leaving it up to Tahlia Scheithauer and she delivered with her double, her only hit on a one-for-five day.

The comeback was made possible by the relief pitching of Dallmann, who recorded the last seven outs and allowed nothing with four strikeouts. Niemi led Rib Lake’s hit parade by going five for five. Weik was four for five with three RBIs. Butler, Blomberg, Chmielowiec, Gumz and Dallmann had three hits apiece.

With Dallmann warmed up, she started game two and kept humming. She allowed just three hits and an unearned run while striking out one while pitching all five innings.

Playing as the visitors, Rib Lake got an RBI groundout from Niemi in the top of the first and scored four in the second for a 5-0 lead.

The 10-run fifth included a two-run triple by Blomberg, a run-scoring single from Niemi and the first career home run for senior Josie Scheithauer, a three-run blast that capped the scoring.

Scheithauer was two for three with four RBIs. Tahlia Scheithauer was two for three as well.

Rib Lake, now 10-10-1 in the regular season following Monday’s 6-2 loss at Medford (see page 6), has picked up a season-ending doubleheader at Loyal-Greenwood for today, Thursday. The Redmen didn’t get as much respect as they’d hoped at last week’s seeding meeting and drew the fifth seed, meaning they’ll start WIAA Division 5 play Tuesday at fourth-seeded Prairie Farm (10-3) in a regional semifinal. The winner will likely travel to top-seeded Athens (14-6) for the regional final on May 23.

Stratford 10, Rib Lake 4

In its home finale Friday, Rib Lake found itself in another 9-0 third-inning but it couldn’t dig out of this one in a 10-4 loss to Stratford in a Marawood crossover.

An eight-run top of the third inning did the Redmen in as a key error helped open the floodgates, capped by Emma Roeper’s three-run double.

Rib Lake outscored the Tigers 4-1 the rest of the way. Chmielowiec hit a two-run single in the bottom of the third. Tahlia Scheithauer drove in a run with a ground ball in the fourth and Butler’s fielder’s choice scored a run in the fifth.

Seven Redmen had a hit apiece against Stratford pitcher Tria Tubbs, who struck out seven and walked six. Gumz had the tough job of pitching through the rain early on and head coach Craig Scheithauer noted she was in the circle when it seemed to be raining hardest in that third inning. Only one of the nine runs charged to her was earned. She allowed five hits in three innings. Josie Scheithauer worked two scoreless innings, Dallmann threw a scoreless sixth and Weik allowed a walk and a run in the seventh.

Tri-County tournament

On Saturday, Rib Lake went 1-1-1 in the Tri-County tournament to place fifth out of six teams.

The bats never really got going in pool play. Adams-Friendship started play in the pool with a 17-2 rout of Wild Rose. The Green Devils and Redmen then played to a 3-3 tie due to the tournament’s time limit. The game went five innings, with all of the scoring taking place in the third inning.

In Rib Lake’s half, Tahlia Scheithauer hit a one-out double and Niemi and Weik singled to load the bases. Chmielowiec hit a clutch, two-out, two-run single and Dallmann added a run-scoring hit. All of Adams-Friendship’s damage in the inning came with two outs on back-to-back triples, a double and an error.

Niemi and Chmielowiec each had two of Rib Lake’s seven hits. Josie Scheithauer pitched three innings, allowing four hits, one earned run and one walk. She struck out two. Dallmann pitched two scoreless innings, allowing three hits and two walks while striking out one.

The first tiebreaker in pool play was runs allowed and the second was runs scored. For Rib Lake to advance to the championship, it had to beat Wild Rose and do it by allowing two or fewer runs. If it allowed three, scoring 18 runs would’ve been necessary.

Neither factored as Wild Rose knocked off the Redmen 4-3 to earn a spot in the third-place game. Time limited the game to five innings. Again, all the damage was done to Rib Lake in the third inning. An error started the Wildcats’ rally, which included four straight singles after that.

Tahlia Scheithauer hit a sacrifice fly for Rib Lake in the third and the Redmen didn’t take full advantage of a potential big inning in the fourth. Josie Scheithauer and Chmielowiec singled and Dallmann walked to load the bases with no outs. But the only runs scored on a passed ball and a run-scoring fielder’s choice hit by Kara Kennedy.

Chmielowiec had two of Rib Lake’s six hits. Weik pitched the first three innings. She struck out four, walked one and allowed five hits and four runs, two of which were earned.

In the fifth-place game, Rib Lake pounded Tri-County 18-3 in four innings. The Redmen scored six runs in the first and more than put it away with eight in the fourth. Madelyn Dallmann was three for four in the two-spot in the order and scored four times. Niemi was two for three and drove in four runs, one in each plate appearance. Josie Scheithauer and Megan Buksa both went two for three and Gumz was two for four as Rib Lake collected 14 hits. Dallmann and Josie Scheithauer each threw two innings.

Adams-Friendship beat Port Edwards 14-4 in the championship. Wild Rose downed Lena-St. Thomas 8-3 in the thirdplace game.