Jays best West twice
On Thursday the Merrill softball team hosted Wausau West for a conference double header. Merrill beat the Warriors both times, taking the first game by a score of 4-2.
In the bottom of the third inning Merrill took the lead on West, scoring two runs.
Makayla Heller started off the inning with a walk, and later moved over to second base before Patience Pyan drove her in with a single to left field. Pyan would go on to score as a Maddix Bonnell double drove her in. West stuck back in the top of the fourth inning with a solo home run to bring the score to 2-1.
The Jays would score another run in the fourth inning after a walk and a throwing error allowed Linsdey Casper to cross the plate. West would strike again in the top of the fifth inning with another solo home run. The bottom of the fifth inning saw Merrill score their last run of the game. Pyan started the rally by getting on base after being hit by a pitch. A walk to Bonnell left runners on first and second for Calli Oberg who would come through with a single that scored Pyan. No more runs would be scored in the game as Merrill won 4-2.
In the second game against West, the Warriors got the jump on Merrill early, however the Jays would come back for a 9-3 win.
West scored one run in the first inning to take the early lead on Merrill, and the lead would hold up until the fourth inning. In the top of the fourth inning the Jays rallied for four runs to take the lead. Calli Oberg started the inning with a double down the left field line. Oberg was followed by Taylor Krueger who singled right before another single by Lindsey Casper. With the bases loaded Megan Schroder was able to draw a walk to score one run. A ground out by Ally Semling would push another run across the plate, right before Molly Weix was able to score two runs with a fielders choice. In the bottom of the fourth inning the Warriors struck for two runs to make it a 4-3 game.
Calli Oberg gave Merrill another run as she hit a solo home run in the top of the fifth inning. With the momentum on Merrill’s side they went on to score four more runs in the top of the seventh inning. A leadoff double by Weix set up Kelsie Belfiori for her RBI single up the middle. After Bonnell was hit by a pitch Oberg stepped up to the plate and launched another home run, this time a three run homer to extend Merrill’s lead to 9-3, which would be the final score.
Late rally sparks Jays win
On Saturday the Merrill softball team hosted an invitational at the MARC which started at 10 a.m. with the first pitch of Merrill and Medford. Medford got an early lead, but a couple late inning rallies put Merrill in front on their way to a 6-5 win.
In the top of the first inning Medford scored two runs on the power of two doubles and a single. In Merrill’s half of the inning they responded with one run of their own. A single by Kelsie Belfiori, followed by a Patience Pyan double and a Maddix Bonnell walk loaded the bases. Later in the inning Taylor Krueger would be hit by a pitch to score Merrill’s first run.
Medford was able to score three more runs in the top of the second inning coming on a two-run homer and a Merrill error. The Jays responded in the bottom of the third with on run. Three singles in a row coming from Megan Schroder, Ally Semling and Molly Weix was enough to push Schroder across the plate for a Merrill run.
In the bottom of the fifth inning Merrill would strike for two runs to come to within one run of Medford. Calli Oberg, Taylor Krueger and Lindsey Casper all hit singles to start the inning, however an error on the first baseman would allow Oberg to score from third, leaving Krueger at third and Casper at first. Krueger would later get caught trying to score on a passed ball, leaving Casper at third base. Ally Semling would then hit a single to right field, scoring Casper from third base. The bottom of the sixth inning started with Patience Pyan reaching on an error. Bonnell would then lay down a bunt to move Pyan to second base. A single by Oberg followed by a Krueger single would score Pyan and tie the game at five. Lindsey Casper would then hit a sacrifice fly ball to left field to score the go-ahead run.
Medford would go down in order in the top of the seventh inning, as Krueger struck out four of the last six Medford batters to get the 6-5 win.
Jays beat down Robins
In Merrill’s second game on Saturday they went up against the Antigo Red Robins. Merrill scored 10 runs in the first inning en route to a 17-2 blowout win.
Antigo got the first runs of the game, scoring two in the top of the first inning. Merrill struck back in a big way scoring 10 runs in the bottom of the first. Patience Pyan got things started with a solo home run, Antigo would then walk in two runs to give Merrill a lead. Merrill then scored another run on a passed ball before a single by Kelsie Belfiori loaded the bases for Pyan. Patience would hit a grand slam and her second homer in the inning to give the Jays a 9-2 lead. Bonnell followed that up with a single and would later score on a Calli Oberg double.
Two runs in the bottom of the third brought the ten run rule into play for Merrill as they led Antigo 12-2. The two runs would come off of an Oberg ground out and a Krueger single. The Jays then exploded for five more runs in the fourth inning to put the game out of reach. Two singles and a walk loaded the bases for a Pyan walk that scored a Merrill run. Bonnell then singled to score two more runs and leave two runners on. Oberg would walk to load the bases and Krueger would come through again with a single to score another two runs. Antigo went down in order in the top of the fifth to end the game.
Altoona tops Jays in finale
In the last game of Saturdays invite Merrill went up against Altoona. Altoona struck first, but Merrill battled back until Altoona eventually won on a late inning run.
In the top of the third inning Altoona scored three runs to take the early lead on Merrill. The Jays came back with one run of their own in the bottom half of the inning. Kelsie Belfiori reached on an error and moved over to third base on a Patience Pyan single. Bonnell would then fly out, scoring Belfiori from third base. In the bottom of the fourth inning Merrill would tie the game. Taylor Krueger led off the inning with a single, followed by a double by Lindsey Casper. Madi Weix would later single to score Kruger and put Casper on third. Molly Weix then grounded into a fielders choice which would score Casper.
Altoona recaptured the lead in the fifth inning, scoring two runs to make the score 5-3. In the bottom of the sixth inning Megan Schroder led off with a single. Schroder was bunted over to second base by Casper and then advanced to third on a single by Ally Semling. Madi Weix would fly out and Altoona would turn a double play, but not before Krueger was able to score. Altoona scored one more run in the top of the seventh inning on a Merrill error. In the last half inning of the game, Kelsie Belfiori got Merrill’s offense started with a single. Belfiori would score on a Maddix Bonnell double to bring the score to 6-5, however Merrill wasn’t able to tie the game as they would take a loss.