Snake Charmers

Maidens get come-from-behind win over Copperheads

The copperhead snake is known for its willingness to fight when backed into a corner, but the Ronan Maidens proved they had more fight in them after a dramatic come-from-behind win in extra innings over the Anaconda Copperheads last Thursday.

The 9-8 win came over a base knock up the middle by Kallia Orr in the bottom of the 8th, as the Maidens finally got their bats going, and had some outstanding defensive plays, too.

“That was really exciting. The girls played well. It’s nice when you play a close game like that and come out with a win,” head coach Doug Fisher said.

The game saw some incredible plays by Chelsey Bourdon and Kelsey Clairmont on defense late in the game, and good all-around hitting by Carli Starkel. Katy Sorrell had two key base knocks to keep her team alive, but the comeback was started by April Soukup.

In the bottom of the fourth with two outs and her team down 6-1, Soukup hit a stand-up double, and then Clairmont beat out an infield hit.

A walk by Jordan Strozzi loaded the bases, and Kaylee Larson hit a bloop single to right to score two. Sorrell then hit a shot to the gap in left center, scoring two more with a stand-up double to make it 6-5, and the Maidens showed some spark they hadn’t felt in a while.

In the top of the fifth, a diving Clairmont at second ranged to her left for an incredible play to get the ground ball out at first, and then Kirsten Cordier ended the inning by fielding a ball in the outfield and gunning down a runner at third on a one-hopper.

It was tough to tell who had the defensive play of the game, after Bourdon leaped to her left to catch a line drive at short, taking away a sure base hit in what was then a 7-5 game in the top of the sixth.

“That was a huge play by both Kelsey and Chelsey. Chelsey being a freshman really stepped up for us,” Fisher said.

The Maidens were down, but not out. After teammates drew two walks, Sorrell belted one to center to load the bases, and a hit by Starkel bought the team to within one. Brittany Bilile then stepped in and drove in two runs to make it 8-7, and the team was on fire.

Orr laid down a great bunt, but Anaconda turned a double play to get out of the inning, down by one run. Things looked bad for Ronan when the Copperheads tied it 8-8 on an error in the top of the 7th.

In the bottom of the 8th, Starkel had a shot to the gap to advance Brittani Clairmont, who had beat out an infield hit to start the inning. With Clairmont on third and Starkel on second, Anaconda opted to intentionally walk Bilile to set up the possible double play or play at any base, and that’s when Orr stepped to the plate.

She turned on the first pitch she saw, knocking it right up the middle, and her teammates swarmed her after the game for her game-winning knock.

“Kallia’s one of our leaders in drawings walks, but that was a huge hit for us, driving in the winning run like that,” Fisher said.

He also had high praise for Starkel, whose bat really lifted the team. She was 4-for-5 at the plate to lead the team, while Larson, Sorrell, and Bilile had two RBIs each.

Soukup led the team with two doubles.

On Saturday, the team had a harder time against top-ranked Frenchtown, and were held to just a couple of hits.

“I don’t know if we just had an emotional let down, but we didn’t play at the same level,” Fisher said.

The team will return to Frenchtown Friday and Saturday for a two-day tournament, which will include a conference game against Butte Central, and games against Florence, Whitefish and Thompson Falls.

The is the point in the season where teams are vying for a bid to state, and the top four from each division get a bid.

“Any win we get is going to be big, especially as we go through and play these teams a second time. Somebody’s going to get upset, so why can’t we be the ones to do it?” Fisher said.