Area teams compete in travel softball state

by Mark Robertson
| July 19, 2013 6:00 AM

HELENA — Softball players from around the region traveled to the state’s capital to compete in the Amateur Softball Association of America’s state tournament over the weekend.

Ashley Benson and Haley Fyant, both of whom play for Polson schools in the spring, fared the best of any Lake County athletes in the tournament playing for the 14U Missoula Lady Osprey Blue. They placed second in their division.

The 18U Montana Avalanche, a team that features Ronan’s Ashleigh Lynch and Polson’s Tina Marquardt, finished third in its division.

The 16U Polson Purple Rain posted a 1-2 record in Helena. Kyrie Bitterman, who hit a scalding .545 over the three-game period, led the offense. Jaylin Kenney, Natalie Slonaker, and Taylor Brackey all hit over .450 in the tournament. Hannah Potter drove in a team-high five runs.

The Purple Rain lost 4-2 to the Missoula Avalanche on Friday afternoon.

“We finished very strong, scoring our two [runs] in the seventh, but we ended the game on a strikeout with the bases loaded,” coach Larry Smith said.

They left 12 runners on base in the contest.

The Purple Rain’s bats came alive in Game 2, as they routed the Billings Shockers, 12-4.

The dagger came on Saturday afternoon against the Great Falls Blitz to whom the Purple Rain fell by a count of 8-4. They again had trouble plating runners on base.

“We were a young team, and if they all stick together, the future results should be very successful,” Smith said. “[This spring] should be a very interesting high school season.”

In 10U action, the Ronan RimRocks went a disappointing 1-2 in the 20-team bracket after placing third in the Bozeman tournament the weekend prior.

The RimRocks came out of the gates strong, demolishing the Electric City Heat Blue, 13-1 on Friday, but they struggled on Saturday with back-to-back 12-4 losses at the hands of the Bitterroot Sparks and the Missoula Lady Osprey.

In the 12U bracket, the Polson Purple Wave ended up 2-2, ousted by the Helena Warriors.

John Heglie contributed to this story.