Lil Lakers win state

BOZEMAN — Five tournaments and five championship games is the record for the Polson 10U Lil’ Lakers fastpitch team.

The Lil’ Lakers won five straight games to win the Montana State ASA Championship tournament two weeks ago.

The state tournament is the big last hoorah, coach Kirk Murphy said.

“The winner gets bragging rights for the state,” he said. “It’s one of the toughest tournaments.”

Going into the tournament, the team expected to face tough teams, but wasn’t nervous player Kylie Murphy said.

Their first game was against the Anaconda Cyclones, beating them 33-0, scoring 28 in the first two innings.

“All the girls were hitting in this one,” Kirk said.

The Great Falls Selects were Polson’s next opponent. The Lil’ Lakers tied the game at one when Jade Newman crossed the plate, but didn’t produce multiple runs until the bottom of the fifth, taking a 6-3 lead. Polson’s defense held firm, allowing no more runs and allowing the team to win the game with the same score.

 “The girls really kept their composure when they were down in this one.” Kirk said. “They knew they had to get the bats going and the fifth inning with six hits was the key to the win.”

The Lil’ Lakers would go onto face rivals Bitterroot Sparks. The last time the two teams met, Bitterroot won 3-2 in the Anaconda Tournament championship game.

The teams have played three times prior with Polson winning twice and this game went to Polson, winning 8-2.

“This was a key game,” Kirk said. “[We] came out and played hard the whole game, they really hit the ball well and ran the basses very aggressively.”

Even though the Sparks scored first, the Lil’ Lakers bounced back with three runs in the bottom of the second. The Lil’ Lakers added three more runs to their lead with an RBI single from Newman, an RBI triple from Natalie Slonaker and an RBI from Kylie. 

Winning the fourth game of the double-elimination tournament would send Polson to the championship game. Polson did just that, dispelling the previously-undefeated Billings Bulldogs 9-1.

Wasting no time, Polson scored three runs in the first inning, including a walk by Ashley Benson and a single from Marlee Congdon.

The second inning was much like the first with the Lil’ Lakers crossing the plate twice. Lauren Lefthand singled, Haley Fyant and Jade Newman walked and Hannah Potter knocked in two runs with a hit.

After adding four more runs in the fourth, the game was called due to the run rule.

The championship game featured Polson against a well-known opponent: the Bitterroot Sparks.

The Lil’ Lakers scored first with two runs in the top of the first. The Sparks took the lead in the bottom of the inning, loading the bases and knocking in three runs after a triple, ending the runs 4-2.

In the second,  Veronica Marquardt singled and scored on a single from Fyant. RBI singles from Slonaker and Kylie Murphy brought the Lil’ Lakers the lead, 6-4.

The Sparks would score their last run of the game in the bottom of the second as Polson’s defense held solid highlighted by first-baseman Slonaker, second-baseman Benson and catcher Newman.

Polson wasn’t done offensively, however.

The Lil’ Lakers notched one in the third and two in the fifth with singles from Congdon and Marquardt. They added two more runs in the top of the seventh and pitcher Kylie Murphy struck out three to end the game, winning 11-5. Kylie pitched 27 innings and struck out 61 batters during the tournament.

During the season, Kirk said his coaching staff stressed fundamentals. Many parents would come to practice, standing on the field or in the dugout to help teach the basics and for moral support.

“We have a great group of parents and get great support from the parents,” Kirk said.

At the team’s last practice before the tournament, Newman said she wants her team to work together as a team and win.

“We don’t want to disappoint our coaches,” she said. “They told us no matter what that we won’t but we want to make them proud.”

Hopefully, a state championship trophy will be good enough.