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MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MERRILL – A frustrating season came to a frustrating end for the Marshfield softball team on Tuesday.
Merrill scored three runs in the first, third and fourth innings to beat the Tigers 11-3 in a WIAA Division 1 softball regional semifinal, ending Marshfield’s season.
Merrill (14-7) will host Antigo in a regional final Thursday. The Tigers’ season ends with a 3-16 record.
The Tigers committed six errors and 10 of Merrill’s 11 runs were unearned. Marshfield had 11 baserunners – seven hits, one on an error and three on walks – but only mustered three runs as it couldn’t come up with a big hit with runners on in the late innings.
Defensive lapses and a lack of clutch hitting doomed Marshfield all season long.
“One of the things I told the girls after the game was as many struggles as we had, with making mistakes on defense and shuffling girls around due to injuries or whatever, the one thing they can take away is that they played hard and never gave up,” Marshfield coach Mike Voss said. “The game tonight was a good example of that.”
Marshfield took a 1-0 lead in the first when Sara Sturomski knocked in Becky Boehning with a single.
Merrill responded with three unearned runs in the bottom of the first. Marshfield battled back.
Rhiannon Baierl knocked in a pair of runs with a single to tie the game at 3-3 in the third, something that showed the Tigers’ fight, Voss said.
“Down 3-1 after first inning, they could have folded, but they battled back with two runs to tie it,” Voss said. “We kept doing the things we needed to do to stay in the game. It was something we did all season.”
Bluejays 11, Tigers 3
Marshfield 102 000 0 – 3 7 6
Merrill 303 302 x – 11 8 1
WP:Megan Pehlke. LP: Rhiannon Baierl.
SO: Baierl 2; Pehlke 5. BB: Baierl 2; Pehlke 3.
Top hitters: MAR, Becky Boehning 2 hits, 2 runs; Sara Sturomski 2 hits, RBI; Baierl 2 hits, 2 RBI. MER, Kalin Byer 2×3, 3B.
Records: Marshfield 3-16; Merrill 14-7.