Frenchtown, Polson battle lives up to the hype
FRENCHTOWN — The Polson Lady Pirates knew their road rematch with the Frenchtown Lady Broncs, the team they defeated to capture a second-consecutive state championship, was going to be one of the tougher games on their schedule. And while the Lady Pirates lost a nailbiter, they left with plenty to build on.
FRENCHTOWN — The Polson Lady Pirates knew their road rematch with the Frenchtown Lady Broncs, the team they defeated to capture a second-consecutive state championship, was going to be one of the tougher games on their schedule. And while the Lady Pirates lost a nailbiter, they left with plenty to build on.
Third baseman Tina “The Terminator” Marquardt hit a towering home run and added five RBIs and Heidi Rausch added a two-run bomb of her own, but they weren’t enough as Frenchtown won the first battle of the year between the softball juggernauts 9-8 on Thursday, April 5.
“We knew the giants would go after each other,” head coach Larry Smith said.
The visiting Lady Pirates (1-1) took a 1-0 lead in their opening frame, but Frenchtown got to Polson ace Shalaina Duford early, scoring four times in the bottom half of the inning before adding two in the second to take an early 6-1 lead.
“She struggled a bit,” Smith said of Duford. “I didn’t help her with calling pitches and she struggled with her control. She’ll come back from it, she’s a gamer.”
The Lady Pirates wouldn’t go down without a fight, however. True to their championship nature, they fought back with three runs in the top of the third to cut the deficit to 6-4. Frenchtown answered that rally with two runs of its own in the bottom of the third to boost their lead to 8-4.
Following a scoreless fourth inning, the Terminator blasted a homer over the scoreboard to make it an 8-6 game in the fifth.
“She hits with power, even in her ground balls,” Smith said. “She’s very important because the three in front of her are very good at getting on base.”
In the bottom of the sixth, the Lady Broncs added a critical insurance run, giving them a three-run edge heading to the final frame.
Polson made the home team sweat out the final three outs, thanks to Rausch’s round-tripper that made it a 9-8 game with nobody out in the seventh.
“She had a great game,” Smith said.
Makaliah Wilson added her second hit of the game to put the tying run on base with nobody out, but she’d be left stranded to end the game, handing Polson its first loss of the season. Ashley Johnson continued her hot start to the season, going 3-4 with a stolen base, Marquardt added three hits in four at-bats and both Rausch and Wilson added a pair of base knocks, but Frenchtown pitcher Abby Indreland stifled the rest of the Lady Pirates’ potent lineup.
“We learned we have to be more comfortable at bat,” Smith said. “We had 10 hits, but they came from four girls. We need to be more consistent.”
Polson will hope to channel that consistency when they host Libby on Tuesday, April 17. The Lady Pirates traveled to Columbia Falls to face the Wildkats for the second time this season on Tuesday, April 10, but results were unavailable at press time.
“We need to jump back in and get a win,” Smith said.
Game time for the meeting with Libby is set for 5:30 p.m.
F-TOWN 9, POLSON 8
THURSDAY, APRIL 3
P - 103 - 020 - 2 - 8
F - 422 - 001 - x - 9
Polson - 9 hits, 1 error. Frenchtown - 11 hits, 2 errors
Lady Pirates batting - Ashley Johnson 3-4, Riley Kenney 0-3, Shalaina Duford 0-3, Tina Marquardt 3-4, Heidi Rausch 2-4, Makaliah Wilson 2-4, Jessica 0-4, Jaylin Kenney 0-3, Jordyn Evertz 0-4, Colleen Jacobson 0-1. RBIs - Marquardt (5), Rausch (2), Wilson. HR - Marquardt, Rausch. Doubles - Rausch
LP Pitching - Duford (7K)