Lady Pirates flirt with perfection, slip past Maidens

By Trent Makela / Leader Staff

Polson pitcher Dakota Peterson was a single hit batter and a walk away from throwing a perfect game, ending Tuesday night's 3-0 home win against Ronan with a seven-inning no-hitter as consolation.

"I believe that was the best game she's thrown this year," Polson head coach Larry Smith said. "She had seven strikeouts, but just walked one and barely hit another one. I thought our entire team played very well defensively. I think this was also Amanda James' best game of the year as well at shortstop."

James chased a ball behind third base for a running catch and made a number of close throws to first over the middle innings.

"We played great defensively, but they played really good, too," Smith said. "We beat them pretty handily both times we played them last year, and their greatest improvement this year is on the defensive end. To be a winning program it all starts there. "

The Lady Pirates went old-school on offense against their cross-county rivals from Ronan, melding their small-ball strategy from previous seasons with their current lineup of power hitters to manufacture runs in the tight defensive matchup.

"When the hits aren't going well, I always go back to the bunting. It really creates a lot of pressure for the other team and forces them to make mistakes," Smith said. "They really made some plays on us, even though we hit the ball pretty hard."

Caitlyn Vassar was the only Polson player with more than one hit, going 2-for-3 on the night. Maggie Gordon, Sarah Newton, James, Woods and Charlee Jensen all finished with one hit apiece.

Ronan's offense brought a similar strategy into the game, consistently bunting in an attempt to catch Polson off-guard.

"I don't know about them, but [bunting] was my strategy coming in. We knew they were tight on defense," Larson said. "You can't give them an inch, but if you do you've got to take something from them."

Kaylee Larson was only the second Maiden to reach base when she was walked in the sixth. She subsequently stole second and then third on two consecutive Polson pitches.

"I would've squeezed her home if there was only one out," Lucky said. "Kaylee wanted to take off home right away. She would've gone on the first pitch again if I would've let her."

Kaylee Larson had an impressive night of her own on the mound, surrendering just seven hits to the normally number-happy Lady Pirate offense. She did allow Polson to load up six base runners over the fourth and fifth innings, but managed to start a double play and snag a head-high line drive to hold the damage to a single run.

"These kids played their hearts out tonight," Lucky Larson said. "They came up short on offense but, as a coaching staff, we need to find a way to hit the ball better. We're looking forward to playing them again."

Polson 1200 10x - 3 7

Ronan 000 000 0 - 0 0

W - Peterson. L - Larson.

POLSON - Maggie Gordon 1-3, Staci Benson 0-3, Sarah Newton 1-2, James 1-3, Woods 1-3, Caitlyn Vassar 2-3, Charlee Jensen 1-2, Liz Simshaw 0-0 (walked), Peterson 0-3, Susan Perez-Tenas 0-2.

RONAN - Kaylee Larson 0-2, Kelsey Clairmont 0-3, Carli Starkel 0-2, Kallia Orr 0-2, Dani Crockett 0-0, Brittani Clairmont 0-1, April Soukup 0-3, Katie Sorrell 0-2, Amanda Bartel 0-2, Kirsten Cordier 0-1, Jordan Strozzi 0-1, Alison Crenshaw 0-2.