Polson earns win in extras
POLSON – In the Lady Pirates’ quest for a fourth straight softball championship, adversity is one of the many bridges the team must cross. Another daunting bridge in Polson’s path stands in the form of the defending Northwestern A division champion Frenchtown Broncs. Thursday night, the Lady Pirates proved they were capable of crossing both, as well as conquering any other barrier that stands in their way.
Frenchtown’s sophomore ace Morgan Ray handcuffed the Lady Pirate hitters through the first five frames, but Polson’s resilience came to play in the sixth and a Frenchtown error in extra-innings gave the Lady Pirates the 7-6 come from behind win.
“The thing I appreciated the most [in the win] against Frenchtown was our tenacity,” said Polson’s head coach Larry Smith. “We didn’t quit and we showed composure.”
Staying calm and collected may have been the most impressive thing the Lady Pirates did Thursday night. Trailing 5-1 in the bottom of the sixth and facing one of the most prolific pitchers in the state, pessimism could’ve easily set over the heads of the Lady Pirates like the gray storm clouds that loomed over the ball field. But the composure Coach Smith referred to and the Lady Pirates “been there done that” attitude wouldn’t allow them to lose.
Of course softball strategy and execution were huge factors too. Coach Smith always stresses playing small ball, such as getting on base, advancing runners and taking advantage of defensive mistakes. It was this strategy that propelled Polson to the victory.
Polson’s offensive explosion was ignited by Tina Marquardt’s solo shot in the sixth. Following a pair of singles by Kaelen Wall and Heidi Rausch, Polson then began to implement their small ball game.
Jaiden Toth sacrificed both Wall and Rausch into scoring position and a pair of passed balls would eventually allow the two Lady Pirates to score. Now trailing just 5-4, Polson’s Jordyn Evertz 11-pitch at bat ultimately drew a walk. Another walk to Taylor Brackey forced Frenchtown’s ace Ray to the bench and Abby Indreland in for relief.
Polson jumped all over Indreland with two more RBI singles by Jaylin Kenney and Jessica Bagnell, giving the Lady Pirates a 6-5 lead going into the seventh.
“Aggressive base running,” said Coach Smith about his Lady Pirates five-run sixth. “We just try to find a way to get our players to reach third base.”
In the top of the seventh, Frenchtown would respond. Morgan Ray doubled with runners on the corners, which scored the tying run for the Broncs. In an attempt to score from first, Frenchtowns potential go-ahead run Keegan Wickman was gunned down from center field by Polson’s Rausch, preserving the 6-6 tie.
Polson’s starting Pitcher Shay Duford took care of things in the eighth, setting up Polson’s chance for a walk-off win.
Evertz would start the eighth inning rally with a single. A sacrifice put the Pirates speedster at second with one out. Evertz would then steal third, placing all the pressure on Frenchtown. With runners on second and third and two outs, a wild pitch squirted away from Frenchtown’s catcher and Evertz raced home for the winning run.
Polson’s comeback win might have surprised some, considering how dominant Ray’s pitching was early on. But the Lady Pirates’ ability to go deep into counts and stay alive with foul tips made Ray pitch well past her capacity.
“We wanted to hang in there with [Ray], put the bat on the ball and not let her dominate us,” said Coach Smith. “She started to get a little frustrated and that’s what we wanted to do.”
Polson had an opportunity to get at the Broncs’ star pitcher early, putting runners at first and third with just one out in the first. But Ray got out of the jam and was able to get into a groove after the first inning scare, holding Polson to just one run through the first five innings. If it wasn’t for Polson’s patience, which ran up Ray’s pitch count, the star pitcher might have had fuel left to pitch the entire seven innings.
Frenchtown’s Indreland’s two-run shot in the second and a couple of Polson throwing errors in the third gave the Broncs the early 4-0 lead.
Polson would then travel southwest Friday for the Belgrade Invitational. Polson’s true test would be on Saturday when they faced state champion runners-up Belgrade Panthers. Unfortunately for the Lady Pirates, the Belgrade Panthers had their attention more so than Friday’s game, a game in which they lost 14-8 against Park.
“We don’t like to make excuses,” said Coach Smith. “Coming off a huge emotional win against our rival, I told our team to enjoy the victory. We were playing Belgrade on Saturday and we might have overlooked [the game against] Park.”
The Pirates would bounce back in a big way against Belgrade Saturday. Duford shutout the Panthers and only allowed two hits through five innings, striking out six. Evertz and Bagnell would provide the offense for Polson, each going 2-for-3 from the plate.
In the Lady Pirates’ next game, they easily handled Havre 21-3, scoring 14 runs in the first inning alone. The two wins erased the disappointing loss to Park and Polson finished the weekend with a 4-1 record.
Box Scores
Frenchtown 0 0 2 2 0 1 1 0 - 6 6 3
Polson 0 0 0 1 0 5 0 1 - 7 9 3
W – Duford (2-0). L – Indreland
FRENCHTOWN – Holly Jacobs 2-4, Emma Pyron 0-4, Kayla Blood 1-3, Abby Indreland 1-2, Keegan Wickman 0-4, Morgan Ray 2-3, Vanessa Stavish 0-3, Josie Anderson 0-4, Larissa Berg 0-3
POLSON – Shalaina Duford 0-4, Jessica Bagnell 3-4, Jaiden Toth 1-4, Jordyn Evertz 1-3, Martina Marquardt 1-4, Kyrie Bitterman 0-1, Skyla Drantz 1-1, Kaelen Wall 0-3, Jaylin Kenney 1-1, Heidi Rau
Ray, Bagnell, Kenney, Ellenwood. SB – Ray 2, Jacobs, Kenney, Evertz
sch 1-3, Sarah Rausch 0-1, Taylor Brackey 0-1, Jaelyn Ellenwood 1-1, Tina Marquardt 1-4.
2B – Jacobs, Ray, Kenney. HR – Indreland, Marquardt. RBI – Indreland 2, Jacobs, Wall
Polson 2 0 0 1 2 - 5 9 2
Belgrade 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 2 2
W – Duford (3-1). L – Taylor (1-1)
POLSON – Jaylin Kenney 1-3, Shalaina Duford 1-2, Jessica Bagnell 2-3, Heidi Rausch 1-3, Martina Marquardt 0-2, Jordyn Evertz 2-3, Kaelen Wall 0-3, Sarah Rausch 1-3, Jaiden Toth 1-2.
BELGRADE – Hannah Goulet 0-2, Autumn Rollins 0-2, Taylor Johnson 1-2, Taylor Hill 0-2, Allison Alstrom 0-2, Katelynn Sulivan 0-1, Skyla Neubauer 1-2, Kindall Bethke 0-2, Judy Taylor 0-1, Jordan Branch 0-1.
2B – Duford, Bagnell
Polson (14) 3 1 3 - 21 13 1
Havre 0 0 3 0 - 3 5 3
W – Duford (4-1). L – Mazurkiewicz
POLSON – Kenney 1-4, Shalaina Duford 3-5, Jessica Bagnell 1-3, Heidi Rausch 3-4, Martina Marquardt 2-4, Taylor Brackey 0-2, Skyla Drantz 1-3, Jordyn Evertz 0-1, Sarah Rausch 1-3, Jaelyn Ellenwood 0-1, Kyrie Bitterman 1-2.
HAVRE – Dani Wagner 1-2, Morgan Mazurkiewicz 1-2, Paige Henderson 0-1, Roxanna Jensen 0-2, Tori Mazurkiewicz 0-2, Harlee Boucher 0-1, Sydne Huston 1-2, Elizabeth Facio 1-2.
2B – H. Rausch, 3B – H. Rausch, McLeod.