POST 147 LEGION SOFTBALL - Lions win state title in new Legion softball tournament

POST 147 LEGION SOFTBALL

The Whittlesey Lions Senior Legion softball team went 4-0 over the weekend, including three wins over local rivals to claim the Division 1 championship in the secondever Wisconsin American Legion State Softball Tournament held in DeForest.

The Lions, representing Medford’s Legion Post 147, capped a 13-3 summer season by reaching Sunday’s title game with three close wins. Having the advantage of being undefeated going into the final round of the double-elimination tournament, Whittlesey took care of business right away, handing Antigo its second loss in comfortable fashion, 10-4, to bring home the gold trophy.

The team features players and coaches from Medford, Marshfield, Merrill, Tomahawk and Marathon. Jason Brahmer, the Medford area’s representative of the coaching staff said this group of girls first formed during the Covid summer of 2020 and has used the last several summers to work together while improving their games.

“We really bonded in practice and while playing games,” Brahmer said. “They hung together. The kids would have great conversations and keep each other up. They never let anyone get too down.”

Waupun was dethroned as the inaugural Division 1 champion, while Fall Creek won the Division 2 state title for the second straight year.

The Lions rode the pitching of Mackenzie Herdt, who is from Merrill, and Podjaski, who is from Marathon to the four victories. Herdt was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player. Podjaski, Zayleah Leonhardt of Medford and Sophie Olsen of Tomahawk were named to the All-Tournament team while Addison Brahmer of Medford earned the tournament’s Batting Champion Award after going a combined five for 11 in the four games, with four runs scored, a run batted in and a walk.

Leonhardt, the team’s catcher, went six for 13 in the tournament with two doubles in the Wausau win and a home run in the championship game.

The Lions took charge of the title game early, scoring five runs in the bottom of the second and two more in the third for a 7-0 lead. The big second inning included an RBI single from Jada Surek, a three-run double from Olsen and a run-scoring single by Podjaski. Leonhardt and Brahmer had hits in the inning and Kyanna Mallien of Medford reached on an error.

Antigo, which included several players Medford’s group has faced in high school play, made things interesting as a three-run top of the sixth cut Whittlesey’s lead to 7-4. But Brahmer singled ahead of Leonhardt’s tworun, inside-the-park home run. Surek’s double drove in the third run of the inning.

Herdt did not allow an earned run, struck out 13 batters, issued no walks and gave up just three hits while pitching all seven innings.

Olsen and Surek each had three of the Lions’ 13 hits. Brahmer and Leonardt had two each.

“Antigo had a good team,” Jason Brahmer said. They got a lot better from where they were at the beginning of the season.”

A 6-5 win over Wausau’s Post 10 Patriots was also a key win in the tournament Saturday night. The win evened the season series at 2-2 and sent Wausau to an elimination game with Antigo Sunday morning, which it lost 5-4 in eight innings.

It was a close game that came all the way down to the wire. We beat them 3-2 early in the season, then they beat us in a couple of games (20-8 and 20-12). We were thinking we'd probably see them again, but like I said, Antigo was doing a great job at the end of the year and they won in eight innings to get to the championship.”

A four-run second-inning rally put Whittlesey ahead of the Patriots 5-2. An error on an Addison Brahmer bunt gave the Lions a first-inning run. Herdt tripled to lead off the bottom of the second and scored on Mallien’s bunt. Brahmer singled and scored on Leonhardt’s double later in the inning.

Wausau tied the game at 5-5 in the top of the fourth, but Whittlesey got the go-ahead run in the bottom half when Brahmer singled and scored on another Leonhardt double.

From there, Herdt shut down the Patriots over three hitless innings, striking out six and walking two. Podjaski struck out four, walked one and allowed seven hits and five runs, just one earned, in the first four frames.

On Friday afternoon, Whittlesey opened the tournament with a 4-2 win over a solid West Salem squad, overcoming an early 2-0 deficit. A three-run fourth did the trick. Addison Brahmer got the rally started by reaching on an error and scoring on a double by Herdt.

Podjaski struck out four batters, walked one and allowed four hits and two runs, one earned in four innings. Herdt struck out eight in three dominant relief innings where she didn’t allow a hit, a walk or a run.

That sent the Lions to a second-round matchup with Antigo Friday night. Whittlesey won that one 3-0 behind Herdt’s 15 strikeouts in a three-hit shutout. She walked one batter. Leonhardt singled with two outs in the first and Herdt scored the game’s first run on an errant throw. Olsen had an RBI double and Herdt singled her in during the fourth inning.

“As far as the talent goes, it was very similar to what you'd see in club ball,” coach Brahmer said of the tournament field. “The pitchers threw hard and most had some deceptive movement. They threw the ball hard. The catching and defense for some teams was phenomenal. These girls were there to play. As far as batting goes, there were girls that can hit.”

The team’s roster also includes Ava Hartl and Chelsea Gebauer of Medford. The team earned its trip to state by winning a roundrobin regional tournament it hosted July 22 where it soundly defeated Augusta and Merrill. Augusta also made the state tournament, going 1-2.

Jason Brahmer said the team is planning a celebration event for Tuesday.

“They earned their way into the state,” he said. “They knew what they had to do in the regional and they did it. There were games they played with only nine players due to work, kids taking classes for college or whatever. They rallied around each other. When we got to the tournament, you could tell everything was clicking. You could see what it meant to them. They were going to fight hard for it and they were able to bring that title back up north.”

The Whittlesey Lions American Legion Post 147 softball team raises the championship trophy after winning the Division 1 title in the second-ever state tournament.

Addison Brahmer, the tournament’s Batting Champion Award winner; Kyanna Mallien, Jada Surek and All-Tournament team member Zayleah Leonardt were among the Medford representatives on the Lions softball team at this past weekend’s state tournament. Leonhardt and Brahmer, along with teammates Mackenzie Herdt and Allison Podjaski will be honored as Wisconsin American Legion 2024 All-Stars at Sunday’s Milwaukee Brewers game.