Defense, speed lead Purple Rain to state title

ANACONDA - The Polson Purple Rain U-16 girls' softball team capped off a stellar ASA softball season with a state championship last weekend.

The Polson girls played the part of the little train that could. The Rain represented one of the smallest towns, but beat all of the big-town teams, including an intense 2-1 championship win over Billings' Mountain West Crush.

The Rain played only one game on Friday, beating the Conrad Wave 7-3, and one on Saturday, topping the Missoula Osprey 13-1. But Polson had a full slate of action on Sunday, winning the 8 a.m. game 6-1 over the Billings Blues to move into the undefeated bracket.

The Rain won a tight 4-3 game over the other undefeated team, the Mountain West Crush, forcing the Crush to beat the Missoula Elite to earn a shot at the Rain in the championship bracket. After Polson led most of the game 2-1, the Crush came back in the bottom of the seventh to win 3-2 and force a rubber match for the championship.

Besides the difference in town size, the championship was a study in contrast of style of play - the Crush literally crushed the big ball while the Rain chipped away with bunts, slaps and steals, rarely hitting the ball out of the infield. The Crush notched 10 hits, but both teams were held scoreless through seven innings, thanks to a superb defensive effort by the Rain.

International tiebreaker rules place the last batter from the last inning on second, following normal batting rotation and each team gets three outs. Purple Rain's defense held, then they geared up their offense.

Jessica Farley was the last batter in the seventh, so she went to second base. That meant that Polson started off at the top of the batting order with Jenni Nesladek - coach Larry Smith couldn't have planned it any better.

Nesladek sacrificed Farley to third and Dylan Zetterberg ran out an infield hit as the Crush held Farley on third. Zetterberg continued on to second and Keeley Torgison drove a ground ball up the middle to score Farley.

Nicole Brasher, who was hitting well against the Crush's pitcher, was intentionally walked to load the bases, putting Lindsey Rafter up to bat.

"And that was one nervous young lady," coach Smith chuckled. "She took one swing at the first pitch and missed it horribly. So, I called time and talked to her a bit.

"I told her that everybody dreams of this moment … you're up at bat with the bases loaded and if you get a hit you win the championship. But, all you have to do is relax and put the ball in play," Smith said.

Rafter settled down and fouled off a few pitches, including one that dinged her hand. After another calming time out, she fouled off one more than drilled a single just past the pitcher and between second and the second baseman to score Zetterberg to win the championship.

"There was no doubt in our mind that in the U-16 we were the strongest defense and fastest team in that 16-team tournament. Many opponent coaches remarked what a great defense we had and how quick we were," coach Smith said. "The defense was just outstanding, especially in the outfield with Tami Bonkowski stretching flat out to make catches, and Keeley Torgison and Brittany Jones making great plays in the outfield."

Smith also said he was pleased with how his squad hit the ball where he wanted it - on the ground so they wouldn't give away a pop-up.

"It was a total team effort," the coach said. "Every time we needed it, somebody else would pick it up, make the play, get the hit, run the bases."

"And our pitching was very solid between Nicole (Brasher) and Dylan (Zetterberg). They pitched fantastic throughout the tournament," Smith added.

But it was Polson's team speed that made all the difference, according to the coach, which forced the other teams to make mistakes.

The Purple Rain qualified for this weekend's regional tournament in Boise, Idaho, and also earned an automatic berth in the national tournament in Missouri, but Smith said the Rain won't make either trip.

"That's a bit too far for this team. We've just got too many kids missing. I've learned that if you can't go with your full force, there's no sense in going," Smith said. "But it definitely would have been nice to attend nationals. It would have been a good experience, but a spendy one."

Polson's Little Lakers 10U team also placed at state, finishing in fourth place. The 14U Lakers team won one game before bowing out of the tournament with a solid 15-win season.

Summary

Montana State

ASA Junior Olympics (16U)

Anaconda

July 18

Championship

Purple Rain 2, Mountain West Crush 1

Crush 000 000 01 - 1 5 2

Rain 000 000 02 - 2 10 1

Trenary and Dupuis. Dylan Zetterberg and Jenni Nesladek.

CRUSH - Pearce 0-4, Shaw 0-2, Trenary 1-4, Dupuis 0-4, Webster 1-4, Darger 2-3, Strever 1-3, George 0-3, Furlong 0-3.

RAIN - Jenni Nesladek 2-3, Dylan Zetterberg 2-4, Keeley Torgison 1-4, Nicole Brasher 1-3, Lindsey Rafter 2-4, Tami Bonkowski 1-3, Brittany Jones 0-2, Kyla McDonald 1-2, Brittany Gardner 0-1, Jessica Farley 0-3, Kendra Woldstad 0-0, Jore Noble 0-0.

2B - Webster. RBIs - Trenary; Torgison and Rafter.