10U Purple Lakers take state ASA title

They were down, but they were never out.

The 10U Polson Lakers captured the state ASA title on Sunday, after clawing their way through four loser-out games to get the win, capturing first place in all three tourneys they entered.

The team is made up of Jessica Bagnell, Kyrie Bitterman, Taylor Davis, Anna DiGiallonardo, Shay Duford, Jordyn Evertz, Claudia Hewston, Jaylin Kenney, Tina Marquardt, Amber Quequesah, and Kiley Webber. They are coached by Tom DiGiallonardo and assisted by Lisa Kenney.

The Lakers started off with a bang Friday, beating the Helena Little Thunders 11-4, behind a 17-strikeout performance by Shay Duford.

A couple hours later, the team suffered it's only loss to the Missoula Lady Osprey, 3-2, but it put them behind the eight ball for the rest of the tourney, which was a true two-and-out one.

"We didn't play poorly but we weren't perfect. They Osprey didn't make any errors, and had a double play with a play at the plate. You never see that at this age," DiGiallonardo said.

Duford had 10 K's but it wasn't enough.

On Saturday, the Lakers faced the Great Falls Heat, and beat them 10-2 behind a 11-strikeout performance from Duford.

They then beat the Butte Mining City Magic, 20-0, in a game shortened due to the slaughter rule, Anna DiGiallonardo pitched two innings, striking out five.

Sunday, the team started bright and early, with warm-ups at 7:15 a.m. for an 8 o'clock game. After seven innings of play, they were still tied with Flathead, 4-4, and had to go the international rule. Under that scenario, the last player to make an out the inning prior goes to second base, and the next three batters try to get her home.

Amber Quequesah took second base, and then Kiley Webber drew a walk. A double steal put runners at second and third, and DiGiallonardo got a single to right center for the go-ahead run.

Duford struck out the side in the bottom of the inning, stranding the Flathead runner at second.

"That was huge. We won 5-4," DiGiallonardo said.

Duford had 14 Ks in eight innings, including striking out the four, five and six batters to close the door on Flathead.

The girls then turned their attention back to the Lady Osprey, and beat them 6-3 behind a four-run fourth inning.

"We only had a few minutes to get ready for the next game. The parents went to the store and got some bread, and peanut butter and jelly, and just started mass-producing sandwiches for the girls," DiGiallonardo said.

At noon, the girls faced the Great Falls Selects and beat them 6-4 behind 14 K's from Duford in the first game. But because the Selects were undefeated, they had to face them again - their fourth game on the day.

The Lakers went up 6-0 in the bottom of the seventh, before the Selects dialed Duford's number and got three runs on the Lakers' workhorse. With one out, and bases loaded with Selects in the bottom of the inning, their clean-up batter stepped to the plate, one of the biggest girls in that age group.

She smashed a line drive to the fence, but Kiley Webber reached out and caught the ball at eye level - robbing the girl of what would have been a bases-clearing, game-tying hit, DiGiallonardo said.

"Their hitter would have ended up on third or at home. We got the second out because Kiley made a huge catch," he said. "It was a great play by Kiley."

Duford, the team's ace, finished the tourney with an incredible 86 strikeouts, which included several games shortened by the slaughter rule, and one in which she only pitched two innings.

Assistant coach Lisa Kenney and 16U coach Larry Smith will take the team to the regional tourney in Kalispell this weekend. The team has a 16-2-2 record, and took first in all three tourneys it entered.