MAC ATTACK REACHES STATE

<p>Loren Erickson pitched all three games for the Lady Bulldogs at Divisionals. </p>

by Brandon Hansen & Sports Editor
| May 24, 2012 10:15 AM

RONAN – MAC Softball overcame a Western B Divisional semifinal loss to Mission Valley rival Ronan on Friday to win two games on Saturday and advance to the Class B Montana Softball State Tournament this weekend.

“The girls are pretty excited,” head coach Susan Weaselhead said. “Reaching state has been our long term goal all season long.”

The way they did it? Pure power. The Lady Bulldogs scored 32 runs in the divisional tournament, as they thumped Deer Lodge 12-3 and picked up an extra innings 11-6 victory over Eureka in the consolation final.

“I think that’s where we have most of our consistency is our bats,” Weaselhead said. “The bats have just been there all year long.”

After they clinched the No. 2 seed in the Western B division with the best regular season in program history, MAC softball faced off against Ronan in the semifinals on Friday. It would prove to be a high-scoring affair with momentum swinging back and forth between both teams.

However in the end, the Maidens bats proved too much as Ronan won 13-8.

“I think our nerves got us a bit on Friday,” Weaselhead said. “But our girls have been working hard and we did a whole defensive practice in preparation for state. I think we talked through those little things.”

The Maidens went up 6-0 in the second inning before MAC softball added five runs of their own in the bottom of the second, but they would go scoreless in the third and fourth innings while Ronan continued to plate runs.

Trailing 12-5 in the bottom of the fifth, MAC scored two runs to pull within five. However, they would score just one more in in the bottom of the sixth and the Maidens hung on in the seventh.

Senior Sara Nerby drove in two runs for the Lady Bulldogs, while fellow senior Janeal McDonald, Serena Long and Sahriha Camacho also plated runs. Camacho, McDonald and Emyli Gillingham all had multi-hit games. MAC bounced back in a big way on Saturday against Deer Lodge. In a loser-out contest, the Lady Bulldogs piled on the runs and destroyed the Lady Wardens 12-3.

MAC notched 10 hits and heated up in the later innings to pull away.

“It was really good, I didn’t have to do much talking between games,” Weaselhead said. “The girls kind of went back to ‘our goal is this game,’ we just slowed way down and focused on the game we were playing.”

After the Lady Bulldogs got an early 3-0 lead through two innings, Deer Lodge answered back with two runs in the top of the third. MAC would respond in the bottom of the fourth with four runs, then scored five more runs in the final three frames of the game to pick up the victory.

McDonald went 1-for-2 with three RBIs. Alyssa Doty, Long and Camacho had multi-hit games and each drove in a run while Kinley Pope had two RBIs in the contest.

The win moved the Lady Bulldogs to a consolation final matchup against Eureka. While it took extra innings, Pope came up big with a two-run homer in the eighth inning to help power MAC to an 11-6 victory to earn the No. 3 seed at the Class B state tournament.

The lead in the game changed numerous times, with MAC taking an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first. Eureka scored two in the bottom of the frame and led until the Lady Bulldogs plated two runs of their own in the top of the third for the 3-2 advantage.

MAC looked like they had gained control with three runs in the top of the fourth for a 6-2 advantage, but Eureka creeped back with a run in the fifth, two scores in the sixth and a run in the bottom of the seventh to tie things up at 6-6.

“I think they did really well they just kept their momentum up in the dugout,” Weaselhead said. “I felt like they hadn’t lost any confidence. I just felt really relaxed with this group of girls.”

In the top of the eighth, MAC’s bats came alive and scored five runs, sparked by the Pope homer. The Lady Bulldogs got lots of offense from Nerby, who went 3-for-5 with a double and an RBI.

“Kinley had a great hit,” Weaselhead said. “That’s a position that she’s been in before and she just stepped up and did it again.”

Doty went 2-for-5 with a double and two RBIs, while McDonald, also had two hits and two RBIs. Gillingham drove in a run for MAC while Camacho and Trinda Foust both had two hits.

Weaselhead added that she was impressed with the players who came off the bench and produced for the team. Foust and Gillingham came up big for the Lady Bulldogs this weekend with their hitting.

MAC now travels to Anaconda where they will face No. 2 seed Stillwater County iin the first round of the state tournament on Friday.

“I think that the girls have a lot of confidence going into the tournament,” Weaselhead said. “We actually played Stillwater last year and they beat us, so that’s some motivation.”

With the Lady Bulldogs making the state tournament last season, there’s definitely experience to draw from for another run at the title.

“It makes a big difference with the nerves,” Weaselhead said. “Basically everybody on the team except for some of the young girls I’ve brought up have been there.”

Weaselhead also wanted to thank the fans for their great support at the divisional tournament.

“We definitely have a great fan base,” she said.

MAC 11, EUR. 6

M - 102 - 300 - 05 - 11

E - 200 - 012 - 10 - 6

MAC - 14 hits. Eureka - 8 hits.

Lady Bulldogs batting - Sara Nerby 3-5, Loren Erickson 0-5, Doty 2-5, Kinley Pope 1-5, Janeal McDonald 2-5, Serena Long 0-4, Sahriha Camacho 2-4, Connor Smith 1-1, Emilie Charlo 0-2, Emyli Gillingham 1-2, Trinda Foust 2-2. 2B – Nerby, Doty, McDonald, Camacho, Gillingham, Foust. HR – Pope. RBIs – Nerby, Doty 2, Pope 2, McDonald 2, Gillingham. LB Pitching - Loren Erickson

MAC 12, D-LODGE 3

D - 002 - 000 - 1 - 3

M - 210 - 421 - 2 - 12

Deer Lodge - 10 hits MAC - 10 hits

Lady Bulldogs batting - Sara Nerby 1-5, Loren Erickson 0-1, Doty 2-2, Kinley Pope 1-3, Janeal McDonald 1-2, Serena Long 2-5, Sahriha Camacho 2-5, Connor Smith 0-2, Emilie Charlo 1-2, Emyli Gillingham 0-1, Courtney Charlo 0-1, Foust 0-0. RBI - Nerby, Doty, Pope 2, McDonald 3, Long, Camacho, C.Charlo, Foust LB Pitching - Loren Erickson

RONAN 13, MAC 8

R - 062 - 121 - 0 - 13

M - 050 - 021 - 0 - 8

Ronan - 14 hits. MAC - 9 hits.

Lady Bulldogs batting - Sara Nerby 0-4, Loren Erickson 1-4, Doty 0-4, Kinley Pope 1-3, Janeal McDonald 2-3, Serena Long 1-2, Sahriha Camacho 2-3, Connor Smith 0-2, Emilie Charlo 0-2, Emily Gillingham 2-3. 2B - McDonald. RBI - Nerby 2, McDonald LB Pitching - Loren Erickson