Key hits spark Polson

BUTTE - The key to the Polson softball team is getting a big hit at the right time.

In Butte last weekend, that happened in four out of the five games.

The Pirates took part in the Butte Invitational and won four games during the marathon.

With five games in three days, Polson faced solid competition coming close to exiting Butte undefeated.

"We know it could have been five wins," head coach Larry Smith said. "Every once in a while, you need to have those lucky bounces of the ball."

Against Butte Central, junior Kodi Woods had the key hit in the top of the fifth inning.

"That hit was crucial," Smith said. "We needed that."

Down 2-0, sophomore Ashley Johnson and senior Staci Benson both reached on singles before Woods stepped to the plate and crushed an inside-the-park home run to give Polson the one-run lead.

Woods' speed allowed her to touch all the bases, making Smith glad she is on the softball field, not the track team.

"She is definitely the quickest on our team," he said.

The Pirates added two more runs in the top of the seventh to win 5-2. Benson went 2-for-4 in a game where the Pirates had eight hits.

"There was only one inning we were out one, two, three," Smith said. "We always had runners on."

The Pirates went on to lose to Belgrade 2-0, a team favored in Class A.

"[Belgrade] is everybody's pick for No. 1 in Class A at state," he said.

The Panthers' pitcher, Lauren Torres, struck out nine Pirates and allowed only five hits.

"She's a good pitcher," Smith said. "She's not overpowering but threw our batters off balance."

The Pirates adjusted but were a little on the passive side at the plate, watching too many first-pitch strikes roll through, Smith said.

What was missing for Polson was a key hit.

"We had base runners every inning," Smith said. "We just couldn't get them across."

Benson went 2-for-3 and junior Kylie Knutson knocked a triple.

Against Laurel, the Pirates once again found themselves behind on the scoreboard but were able to come back for the 4-3 win. Down 2-0 in the third, Woods led off with a single and was sacrificed to second on junior Kayla Duford's bunt. Woods scored when sophomore Riley Kenney hit a single. Sophomore Makaliah Wilson hit a single to push Kenney to third. Freshman Heidi Rausch also hit a single to score Kenney.

"She's getting her turn," Smith said of Rausch. "She's earning her way. Her bat is going to be a contributor for us. She can hit the ball hard."

The next morning, Polson started with a bang against Glendive.

The 9 a.m. game start time didn't damper the Pirates too much.

"We seem to struggle in morning games," Smith said. "We're learning how to wake ourselves up."

Benson and Woods both grounded out to lead off the game before Kayla hit a left-handed home run on 2-2 count.

"That was our key hit," Smith said as Polson batted 11 batters in the first inning to score seven runs.

Kenney went 2-for-3 with a double as freshman Shay Duford tossed a one-hit, complete game.

To end the weekend, Polson beat Miles City 11-7 in a game that wasn't as close as the score indicates.

Smith said he did a lot of substituting in the later innings that led to Miles City's scoring.

Shay helped the score with a three-fun home run in the third inning and Woods went 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI.

Shay pitched in each of the games, only sitting for a couple innings against Mile City. Physically, her arm is fine and mentally, she is strong, Smith said.

"She held up," he said. "For a young gal, she has a lot of stamina. She's accepted she has defense behind her and can let the other team hit the ball."

Benson went 3-for-4 with a double against Mile City as well as playing strong defense all weekend at shortstop.

"She really had consistent batting," Smith said. "She had fantastic defense. You can't ask for any more from her, batting around .600 this weekend."

Polson wraps up its regular season this week with a couple rivalry games. The Pirates pretty much have the division crown wrapped up, as Polson is the only team without a loss, Smith said, with the state tournament next week.

The Pirates faced Ronan on Tuesday and scores were unavailable at press time.

Smith said he didn't need to motivate his team for the game against Ronan.

"No matter what the teams' records are, we are out to beat each other," he said.

Polson will host Columbia Falls tonight before traveling to Libby on Friday to defend their bottom-of-the-seventh win last time the two teams played.

"That's a typical Polson-Libby close game," Smith said of the last match up. "It'll be the same when we go up there. I guarantee it."