Lady Pirates suffer first loss of the season

The Polson Lady Pirates suffered their first loss of the season after falling to Frenchtown, 7-4, Saturday but went 3-1 on the week.

Polson represented the last of the undefeated Class A softball teams in the state - Frenchtown has one loss, to Libby - but are still on top of the Western conference, after getting wins over Columbia Falls, Butte Central and Ronan over the past week.

The Lady Pirates beat the Wildkats 7-0 last Thursday but didn't have quite the spark they normally do, coach Larry Smith said.

"I didn't think we played as well. We didn't have as much heart or intensity," Smith said.

Lindsey Rafter and Nicole Brasher had doubles, while frosh Amanda James had two and drove in two runs, along with Rafter. Brittany Jones and Kyla McDonald also had RBIs.

The girls had an easy time against Butte Central, winning 10-0 behind three RBIs from Rafter. Rafter, Jaelin Vandeberg and Brasher had doubles, with Dylen Zetterberg and James getting two RBIs apiece, and McDonald, Brasher and NaTesha Arlint also driving in runs.

But Smith said Frenchtown was scouting that game, and got a good idea of which pitches to throw and batters' weaknesses. But he said Frenchtown has a solid program, and just outplayed the Lady Pirates.

The scouting must have helped, too, as only McDonald and Sarah Newton had good days at the plate. McDonald went 3-for-4 while Newton hit a two-run homer in the seventh inning.

"It was on the first pitch, but just too little, too late," Smith said.

Newton had two RBIs and Rafter had one, but Smith said the team struggled at the plate overall, with the 3-8 batters going 1 for 19.

"I think they had our hitters' numbers in this game. They caught on to our pitching really quickly, too, and kept the pressure up," Smith said.

Zetterberg took the loss because the team trailed 3-2 heading into the last inning when she left, and Newton took over in relief. Smith said, the Frenchtown game notwithstanding, that the two pitchers complement each other well, with Newton's speed mixing up well with Zetterberg's ball movement and off-speed repetoire.

"Sarah's gaining confidence all the time. She's a good change of pace, following up to Dylen," Smith said.

If they had to lose, losing to the defending state champs wasn't the worst thing that could happen, Smith noted.

"Frenchtown had just come off the loss to Libby, so they were mad. We were the only two unbeaten teams. If we to lose one losing to Frenchtown isn't bad," Smith said. "They have a strong program there."

The team will host Columbia Falls on Thursday with the JV at 3:30 and the varsity at 5:30. They will then travel to the Butte Central tourney, where they will have a chance to face some good talent from the Eastern conference.