Comeback kids

Two outs. Two strikes. One errant throw.

That’s all it took for Ronan’s senior Jordyn Clairmont to steal home and win the Western BC divisional championship game in Anaconda on Saturday night.

Down by five runs in the seventh inning, Ronan was looking for some magic to happen. After two quick outs and then a strike out by pitcher Gabby Wirz, it was do or die for the Maidens in the bottom of the seventh.

Courtnee Clairmont and Kaitlyn Sassaman both hit singles to get on base. A Gabby Wirz grounder got her on base, but led to a Clairmont out. Carston Rhine singled and brought in Sassaman to make the score 8-4. Amanda Morency got on base before Kiana Brown got out on a pop fly for the second out. Sadie Wirz brought in her sister and Rhine, then a triple by Jordyn Clairmont brought in two more runs for the Maidens to tie the game up at eight apiece. With Clairmont on third base, Shailee Courville was up to bat. With two strikes on her, she watched the third pitch go by and get away from the catcher.

So did Clairmont.

A slide into home and a safe call by the umpire sent the already excited Ronan dugout into a frenzy as fellow senior Sassaman reached Clairmont first, followed by the rest of the Maiden squad.

After beating Anaconda earlier in the day, Ronan had a break while the Copperheads had to play another game. After defeating Florence, Anaconda played their third straight game and second of the day against Ronan, this time in the championship. After two days of rain, the sun made an appearance at the beginning of the game. However, it was short lived, as about an inning in, a storm rolled through that blew the rain horizontally, soaking both teams for a good portion of the game before the sun made another appearance, just in time for the Maidens to make their comeback.

After the game, an excited coach Kellie Jones Manyhides said she knew the team had it in them. “I was just waiting for them to step up and come alive,” she said, “I can’t tell you how proud of them I am. They’re tough. They’re fighters.”

Clairmont, one of five seniors on the team, was almost speechless after the big win. “When I was on third base, after she had two strikes on her, I was like ‘Okay, pass ball I’m there. I have to have this.’ I wanted it so bad,” she said, “We always come back or we always have an inning where we go off. We just waited until the last inning in this one.”

If Ronan had lost the game, they would have had to turn around and play Anaconda again. Copperhead fans were already moving their chairs over to the other field, which had been prepared in case of a second championship game.

The Maidens had other plans. “I feel like we worked too hard to get here to lose like that, especially to a team that we know we can beat,” senior third baseman Amanda Morency said, “And coming back in the last inning shows just how much heart we have.”

Ronan went 4-0 in the divisional tournament, including wins over Florence and Libby on Friday. They will face Huntley Project in their first game of the state tournament in Kalispell on Thursday at 2 p.m.

Championship

Ronan 9, Anaconda 8

Anaconda 412 010 0 – 8 *6 2

Ronan 111 000 6 – 9 *11 4

Michaela Cortright and Hannah Schaefer. Carston Rhine, Gabby Wirz (5) and Sadie Wirz. W – G.Wirz (5-2). L – Cortright.

ANACONDA– Erin Chapman 1-4(FC), Sydnie Peterson 0-5, Hannah Schaefer 1-3(E), Andi Mavrinac 1-3, Shea Forsberg *1-3(FC), Randee Jo Johnson 0-2, Kassandra Flores 1-4(2E), Michaela Cortright 0-3, Johannah Forsberg *1-3.

RONAN – Kaitlyn Sassaman 3-4, G. Wirz 1-4(FC), Carston Rhine 2-4, Amanda Morency 2-4(E), Kiana Brown 0-4, Sadie Wirz 1-4, Jordyn Clairmont 1-3, Shailee Courville 0-2, Courtnee Clairmont 1-2.

3B – G.Wirz, J.Clairmont. 2B – Flores. RBIs – Chapman 2, Cortright, Johnson, S.Forsberg; Sassaman, Rhine *1, S. Wirz *2, J.Clairmont 2. SacB – Johnson. BB – Schaefer, Mavrinac, S.Forsberg, Johnson, Cortright, J.Forsberg; Courville, C.Clairmont. HB – J.Clairmont. (Sa21May16gm14div)

Asterisk (*) denotes stat variant(s): A9H – S.Forsberg 2H (FC according to alternative assessment), other 2H (FC and/or E according to alternative assessment), J.Forsberg 4AB (BB doesn‘t count as AB). R12H – (FC or E may have been credited as H by reporting source). Reported by media coverage – S.Wirz (1RBI), Rhine (2RBI).

Undefeated Semifinal

Ronan 14, Anaconda 10

Anaconda- 010 612 0 – 10 10 3

Ronan- 123 242 x – 14 16 5

Andi Mavrinac, Michaela Cortright (2) and Hanna Schaefer. Carston Rhine, Gabby Wirz (5) and Sadie Wirz. W – G.Wirz (4-2). L – Cortright.

Pitching specs: Rhine (5K,7H,3W,1PO), G.Wirz (2K,3H,3W).

ANACONDA – Erin Chapman 1-4, Sydnie Peterson 0-5, Schaefer 1-2, Cortright 2-4, Shea Forsberg 1-5, Randee Jo Johnson 0-3, Kassandra Flores 2-4, Mavrinac 1-4, Johanna Forsberg 2-4.

RONAN – Kaitlyn Sassamn 4-5, G. Wirz *2-5(2E), Rhine 0-5, Amanda Morency 2-5, Kiana Brown 2-4, S. Wirz *1-5, Jordyn Clairmont 3-3, Shailee Courville 2-2, Courtnee Clairmont 0-3.

HR – Flores. 3B – J. Clairmont. 2B – Cortright; Morency. RBIs – Chapman, S. Forsberg, Flores 2, J. Forsberg *2; Sassaman, G. Wirz 2, Rhine, Morency, Brown *2, Clairmont 2, Courville 3. BB – Chapman, Schaefer 3, Cortright, Johnson; J.Clairmont, Courville 2, C.Clairmont. HB – Brown. SB – Chapman. (Sa21May16gm11div)

Asterisk (*) denotes stat variant(s): R specs attribute J.Forsberg with additional RBI credit. R18H – G.Wirz 3H (ROE according to alternative assessment), S.Wirz 2H (FC according to alternative assessment), Brown (1RBI ).

Second round

Ronan- 100 091 – 11 10 0

Libby- 001 000 – 1 *3 8

Carston Rhine (4K,2W,3PO) and Sadie Wirz. Lindsey Walker, Khalyn Hageness (5) and Sammee Bradeen. W – Rhine (14-4). L – Walker.

RONAN – Kaitlyn Sassaman 1-3(FC), Gabby Wirz 1-4, Rhine 3-4, Amanda Morency 1-4, Kiana Brown 1-4, S. Wirz 0-4(3E), Jordyn Clairmont 2-4(E), Courtnee Clairmont 0-4(FC), Katlyn Santos 1-3.

LIBBY – Madisen Monigold 0-2, Hageness 1-2, Ashley Walker 0-3, Jordan Turner *1-3, Alyssa Marshall 0-3, Haylee Cannon 0-3, L. Walker 0-2, Bradeen 1-2, Taryne Luscher 0-2.

2B – Sassaman, G.Wirz, *Rhine, J.Clairmont. RBIs – G. Wirz 2, Rhine 3, Morency 2, Brown, Clairmont, Santos; A. Walker. BB – Sassaman; Monigold, Hageness. HB – Santos.

Asterisk (*) denotes stat variant(s): Libby 4H (Turner 2nd H = FC). Rhine with (2)2B, but technically one of those would have been a 2RBI single during which she advanced on throw.

First round

Ronan 17, Florence 7

Florence 1( 4)0 011 – 7 5 4

Ronan 0(10)1 006 – 17 12 8

Shannon Byrne, Shay Wallbillig (2), Sarah Schurg (2) and Chloe Arthur. Carston Rhine (8K,1W,1PO) and Sadie Wirz. W – Rhine (13-4). L – Byrne.

FLORENCE – Natalie Drozdz 1-4, Byrne 2-4, Natalie Dulac 0-4, Arthur 0-3, Shay Waldbillig 1-3, Kali Leibenguth 0-2, Brooklyn Little 1-3, Sarah Schurg 0-3, Danara Greer 0-3.

RONAN – Kaitlyn Sassaman 2-4(E), Gabby Wirz 0-5, Rhine 2-5, Amanda Morency 3-5, Kiana Brown 1-2, S. Wirz 1-2(E), Jordyn Clairmont 0-2(FC), Courtnee Clairmont 3-4(E), Katlyn Santos 0-2(E), (cr) Jasmine Christensen, (cr) Taylor Tobol.

3B – Drozdz; Sassaman, Morency. 2B – Sassaman, C. Clairmont. RBIs – Little; C. Clairmont 4, Sassaman 2, Morency 2, S. Wirz. SacF – S.Wirz. BB – Leibenguth; Brown, S.Wirz, J.Clairmont 2, Santos 2. HB – Sassaman, Brown.

MAC

The MAC softball team went into the divisional tournament with high hopes, but unfortunately those hopes were ruined by a rainy Friday in Anaconda.

In their first game, MAC allowed seven runs by Libby in the second inning before coming back within three in the third. The Bulldogs were not able to rebound further than that, and lost the game 6-13. MAC only had two errors and they had 10 hits, but they could not quite put up the runs. Senior Jordyn Eichert was 4-4 in the game, and Mikaylan Roylance brought in two runs. Vanessa Kent also had two RBIs in that game.

In the loser out game, MAC and Florence fought for a chance to continue on. The score was tied up at three going into the fifth inning, then Florence went off, scoring ten runs to end the game. MAC only had four hits in that game compared to 10 by Florence, but the Bulldogs still only had one error. Eichert finished off her season with a double and two RBIs. MAC loses six seniors to graduation this year.

First Round

Libby 13, MAC 6

Libby- 070 132 1 — 13 13 2

MAC- 004 101 0 — 6 10 2

Khalyn Hageness and Sammie Bradeen. Ran’Dee Charlo, Jaycee Andersen (5) and Kenzie Couture. W — Hageness. L — Charlo.

LIBBY — Madisen Monigold 3-5, Hageness 0-2, Ashley Walker 2-5, Haylee Cannon 0-5, Alyssa Marshall 2-4, Jordan Turner 1-3, Linsey Walker 2-4, Bradeen 2-4, Taryne Luscher 1-3.

MISSION — Mikaylan Roylance 1-4, Jordyn Eichert 4-4, Couture 2-4, Morgan Malatare 1-3, Andersen 0-1, Charlo 1-3, Ashley Tanner 0-3, Tomi Brazil 0-1, Madison Savage 0-3, Vanessa Kent 1-4.

3B — Malatare. 2B — Monigold, Marshall; Couture, Eichert. RBIs — Monigold 4, Walker 2; Roylance 2, Kent 2.

Loser out

Florence 13, MAC 3 (f/5)

MAC- 003 00 — 3 4 1

Florence- 300 0(10) — 13 10 1

Ran’Dee Charlo, Jaycee Anderson (3), Toni Brazil (5) and Makenzie Couture. Sarah Schurg and Chloe Arthur. W — Schurg. L — Anderson.

MISSION — Mikaylan Roylance 0-3, Jordyn Eichert 1-3, Couture 0-2, Morgan Malatare 1-2, Anderson 0-2, Charlo 1-2, Brazil 0-2, Madison Sasvage 0-2, Vanessa Kent 1-2.

FLORENCE — Natalie Drodz 2-2, Shannon Byrne 1-2, Arthur 2-4, Shay Waldbillig 0-1, Brooklyn Little 1-2, Kali Leibenguth 3-3, Schurg 0-1, Rilee Mangun 0-3, Jewel Zeiler 0-1, Destini Greer 1-1.

3B — Leibenguth. 2B — Eichert. RBIs — Eichert 2; Arthur 2, Little 2, Greer 2, Leibenguth 2, Mangun, Byrne.

Polson

By JOHN HEGLIE

At Columbia Falls last Tuesday, the visiting Lady Pirates squared off against the host WildKats in a game with division standing implications. Polson jumped out to an early 5-0 lead after the opening innings, then watched a Kat-astrophe un-fur-l as the host felines flexed their claws by scratching their way back into the game. Columbia Falls would then vault ahead with a productive bottom half of the fifth when their entire order went to the plate, putting them in the catbird seat and left them grinning much like a Cheshire Kat from Alice in Wonderland. Further Lady Buc attempts to Kat-ch their opponent or apply a softball equivalent of Katnip to remedy the situation bore as much fruit as the futility of herding cats.

After scoring the initial run of the game in the inaugural inning, Polson would plate a quartet in the second that included a triple by Camas Renault. The Lady Pirates had their chances to potentially put the game out of reach had they capitalized on opportunities. In the top half of the fifth, Polson loaded the bases when both seasoned seniors reached safely (Lydia Dupuis 1B, Hannah Potter BB). Hannah Fryberger would draw her second walk of the contest to load the bases, but an infield grounder forceout would snuff the lead runner and a subsequent infield groundout would end the inning. Thereafter, Columbia Falls would play a strategic game of Kat and mouse with Polson relegated to the role of rodent, rebuffing challenges to get past them with a pounce of their paws.

Other Lady Pirate highlights included Laurel Bitterman reaching base four times that included a fielder’s choice that accompanied a trio of singles, which allowed her to extend by stealing four bases, bulging her season swipe total to 20 steals. Leadoff batter Kaelyn Smith added another stolen base to her collection to move her into a second place tie with Strohm Fouty (37SB 2003,2005) on the all-time school record list for stolen bases at Polson. The game featured the fiftieth extra base hit of the season.

At Whitefish this past Friday, the visiting Lady Pirates muzzled the host Lady Bulldogs from the onset, then tightened the leash as the game progressed to close out their regular schedule finale with ease. The win evened their NWA Division record at 3-3 and secured the third seed heading into the State A Tournament commencing this weekend.

The Lady Pirates smacked a half dozen extra base hits, spearheaded by a Laurel Bitterman triple, while Quinn “the Quickster” Motichka stretched a pair of hits into doubles.

Other highlights included Kaelyn Smith ascending the peak of the pilferage pinnacle when she reset the bar for stolen bases in a single Pirate season formerly held by Strohm Fouty, tying the previous record (39SB 2002), then vaulting into the lead when she pinched her 40th of the season. The Lady Pirates as a team have swiped a cumulative total of 116 stolen bases during the course of the regular schedule, setting a new team record.

(3NW) Polson (17-7) will open the State A tournament on Thursday against (2SW) Hamilton (12-8) with the winner advancing to face (1E) Laurel (10-7) in the bottom quadrant of the upper half of the bracket that includes (1NW) Frenchtown (14-5 + 3-1 BelgradeInv) in the upper portion.

C. Falls 6, Polson 5

Polson 140 000 0 – 5 *9 0

C Falls 002 130 0 – 6 *13 3

Camas Renault, Lauren Vergeront (4), Renault (5) and Ashley Benson. KJ Schweikert and Samantha Collins. W – Schweikert. L – Renault (7-2).

Pitching specs: Renault (4.67IP: 3K,8H,1W,1HB), Vergeront (1.33IP: 1K,5H,1HB)

POLSON – Kaelyn Smith *2-4, Laurel Bitterman 3-4(FC), Benson 1-4, Lydia Dupuis 1-4, Hannah Potter 0-3, Quinn Motichka 0-4, Hannah Fryberger 1-2, Mikayla Croft *0-1, *Vergeront 0-1, Renault 1-3.

COLUMBIA FALLS – Katie Price 2-4, Peyton Kehr 2-2, Collins *1-4, Sydney Hovde 1-4, Lottie Ellis 1-4, Schweikert 3-4, Hannah Freeman 2-4, Kerry Lanners 0-4(FC), Morgan Campbell-Queen 1-3.

3B – Renault. 2B – *Benson; Freeman 2. RBIs – *Smith, Benson 2, *Dupuis, Renault; Price, Kehr, Collins, Hovde, Ellis, Schweikert. SacB – Croft. BB – Potter, Fryberger 2. HB – P.Kehr; Campbell-Queen. SB – Smith (37th), Bitterman 4, Dupuis 2; Ryley Kehr. (Tu17May16)

Asterisk (*) denotes stat variant(s): P8H – Smith (1H+?E vs. 2H), Croft (2AB –SacB miscounted as routine PO); CF14H – Collins (2H vs. H+FC/E).

Polson 24, Whitefish 2

Polson 34(11) 6 – 24 19 1

Whitefish 10( 1) x – 2 3 3

Haley Fyant (4K, 1W,1HB,1PO) and Ashley Benson. Jordan Rae Sletten and Baileigh Krause. W – Fyant (7-3). L – Sletten.

POLSON – Kaelyn Smith 3-4, Paige Noyes 1-1, Laurel Bitterman 2-3, Benson 3-4, Kaylanna DesJarlias 0-0, Lydia Dupuis *2-3, Whitney Barr 0-0, Hannah Potter 1-2, Quinn Motichka 3-5, Hannah Fryberger 0-2, Camas Renault 1-2, Breyland McCall 0-0, Fyant 1-3, Mikayla Croft 1-1.

WHITEFISH – Sletten 2-2, Michaela McDowell 0-2, McKenzie Carl 0-2, Krause 0-2, Abby Carson 0-1, Isabelle Klempel 0-1, Rebecca Catina *1-1, Abby Reese 0-1, Lily Stedman 0-1.

3B – Bitterman. 2B – Smith, Benson, Motichka 2, Croft. Sletten 1. RBIs – Smith 2, Bitterman 2, Benson 2, Dupuis 3, Potter 2, Motichka 4, Renault, Noyes, DesJarlias, Croft. BB – Bitterman 2, DesJarlais, Dupuis, Barr, Potter 3, Fryberger 2, McColl, Renault; Klempel. HB – Renault; Carson. 7SB – Smith 3 (38th,39th,40th), Bitterman (21st), Dupuis (15th), Motichka (12th), Noyes (10th). Runs – Smith 4, Noyes 3 (cr Fyant 2), Bitterman 4, Benson 3, DesJarlais, Dupuis 3, Barr, Potter, Fryberger, Renault 2, Croft. (Fr20May16)

Asterisk (*) denotes stat variant(s): Dupuis (4AB = 3AB + ph Barr AB); Catina 0H. Polson (17-7) record incorporates 4 Belgrade Jamboree wins + Butte Central forfeit of season opener that BC initially won.