Maidens face tough competition in Butte

BUTTE - The Ronan softball team played five tough games last weekend in the Butte Invitational winning its last game.

In three of its games, the Maidens held leads before giving up late rallies.

In its first game, Ronan faced Hardin in a 6-4 loss. The Maidens scored three runs in the third inning and added another in the fourth before giving up five runs in the fifth. Hardin led off in the fifth with a home run to seal the game.

"We played real well," head coach Tom Peterson said.

Senior Makenzie Middleton went 1-for-1. Sophomore Bethany Coleman led the Maidens on the mound.

"She's always consistent for us," Peterson said.

In its next game, Ronan held a 4-0 lead before Lewistown scored seven runs in the bottom of the third. The Maidens battled back with a run in the fourth and three in the seventh, but it wasn't enough in the 10-8 loss.

Sophomore Payge Delaurenti started her first varsity game on the mound. She suffered a shoulder injury at the beginning of the year that has kept her away from pitching duties. This time around, Peterson said he didn't want her throwing as hard as she could to keep her shoulder in tact.

"She only walked one but threw a lot of strikes," he said.

Senior Chelsey Bourdon, Coleman and freshman Ashley Lynch each went 2-for-3. Lynch, junior Katie Andrews and sophomore Lindsay Clairmont each hit doubles as part of Ronan's 10 hits. Ronan isn't normally a run-producing team, Peterson said, averageing about three runs a game while allowing five.

"We hit the ball better this game," he said. "We've never been blown out."

Against conference-foe Whitefish, Ronan was down 4-0 in the bottom of the seventh and managed three runs, but it wasn't enough.

Coleman went 2-for-3. This the first time all season the two teams had met.

"It's the first time I've played them ever," Peterson said.

Ronan left nine runners on base after hitting the ball six times, but couldn't get the extra something to move them across home plate.

"We were getting on base, we just didn't have any clutch hits," Peterson said.

Andrews hit Ronan's only hit in an 8-1 loss to Belgrade, despite scoring first, before beating Anaconda 3-0.

Coleman went the distance, shutting down Anaconda. She didn't allow a hit and went 1-for-3 at the plate.

Ronan scored three in the first inning and that was all it needed in the win.

Senior Abby Luke went 3-for-3 and Bourdon went 2-for-3 as the Maidens registered eight hits.

Ronan played Polson on Tuesday, but scores were unavailable at press time.

Peterson said his team is out of the running for post-season play and experience has been the biggest factor in that.

The Maidens travel to Columbia Falls on Friday and host Whitefish on Saturday.

"I hope that we can continue to compete because we are getting better each time," Peterson said.