Polson gets ready to host 22-team softball tournament

The Polson Team USA softball team,as well as 22 other softball teams from all over the state of Montana, will compete in the Polson Splash Classic June 9-11 at the Polson Softball Complex.

The Polson Team USA softball organization, formally known as the Amateur Fastpitch Association (ASA), will host several teams from the age ranges of 10U all the way up to 16/18U softball teams.

“There are players that play at this level that get to be seen for colleges,” Kelley Druyvestein said. “There are a lot of players and top pitchers that go on to play college. They can continue to play instead of being done once high school is done. They can jump on these summer ball teams.”

Polson will have four teams including the 10U Lil Lakers, the 12U Purple Wave, 14U Lakers, and the 16/18U Purple Rain.

In recent tournaments Polson softball has found a tremendous amount of success.

The 12U Purple Wave team finished third at a tournament in Butte and the 14U Lakers finished third in the “Hit The Pit” softball tournament.

All of this recent success has Druyvestein and several other people that follow Mission Valley softball developing high expectations for the local softball teams that are set to participate in the touranment this weekend.

Not only will there will be softball teams that travel from Ronan, Columbia Falls and four teams from Polson, but there will be teams that travel over from one of the top-caliber softball teams in the area Frenchtown. In the last five Class A state softball touranments Frenchtown brought home four-consecutive state softball championships.

This season, Frenchtown finished second and they gave up their four-year stranglehold on the crown in a 6-1 loss to Belgrade in Sidney.

All of these travel softball teams not only give several individual players an opportunity to showcase their skills to prospective colleges, but also give them a chance to develop skills to help allow them to carry on the traditions of several high school programs in the area that continue to have success year-after-year.

“There will be four Polson teams, two Ronan teams, two C-Falls teams and four Frenchtown teams. Then, it goes up to Libby, Eureka, Missoula, Hamilton and Stevensville.”

Druyvestein said events like this will help pump money into the local economy.

She estimates each player will bring at least three family members with them travelling. All of these extra expendetures give several local Polson businesses an opportunity to prosper.

“Oh yeah, there are motels, camping, food and that usually brings in somewhere around easily over 1,000 people,” Druyvestein said. “There are 12 to 15 people on the team and there are at least three people that come with each kid.”

Druyvestein said she felt tournaments like this are for the hardcore softball enthusiast.

With the cost of travel, the time commitment that several of the players have to devote to dedicate their time to the sport usually only attracts players that are extremely dedicated to the game of softball, Druyvestein said.

“Basically, this tournament is for people that really like softball,” Druyvestein said. “You don’t play in the summer unless you really like softball.”

POLSON SPLASH CLASSIC 2017

Pool Play Schedule

Pool Team Name Game Times

A1 POLSON PURPLE RAIN (16/18U) 8:30 p.m. Fri,1:15 p.m. Sat, *4:45 Sat, 8:30 p.m. Sat

A2 FURY FASTPITCH (16/18U) 8 a.m. Sat, 11:30 a.m. Sat, 6:30 p.m., Sat

A3 LIBBY DIRTBALLERS (16/18U) 11:30 a.m. Sat, 1:15 p.m. Sat, 4:45 p.m., Sat

A4 EUREKA LADY LIONS (16/18U) 9:45 a.m. Sat, 1:15 p.m. Sat, 6:30 p.m., Sat

A5 GREAT FALLS XPLOSION (16/18U) 8 a.m. Sat, 11:30 a.m. Sat, 3 p.m., Sat

A6 RONAN MAIDENS (16/18U) 8:30 p.m. Fri, 9:45 a.m. Sat, 3 p.m., Sat

A7 MILES CITY RENEGADES 11:30 a.m. Sat, 1:15 p.m. Sat, 8:30 p.m., Sat

B1 POLSON LAKERS (14U) 3 p.m. Sat, 4:45pm, Sat

B2 FURY FASTPITCH (14U) 3 p.m. Sat, 4:45pm, Sat

B3 TEAM USA (14U) TBD

C1 POLSON PURPLE WAVE (12U) 6:30 p.m. Fri, *8 a.m. Sat,1:15 p.m. Sat, 6:30 p.m., Sat

C2 FURY FASTPICTH (12U) 9:45 a.m. Sat, 11:30 a.m. Sat, 4:45 p.m., Sat

C3 BITTERROOT SPARKS (12U) 8 a.m. Sat, 3 p.m. Sat, 6:30 p.m., Sat

C4 C-TOWN REBELS (12U) 6:30 p.m. Fri, 9:45 a.m. Sat, 6:30 p.m., Sat

C5 MT AVALANCHE/GAGNER (12U) 8 a.m. Sat, 9:45 a.m. Sat, 1:15 p.m., Sat

C6 ELECTRIC CITY HEAT- HOEY (12U) 8 a.m. Sat, 11:30 a.m. Sat, 3 p.m., Sat

C7 RONAN MIGHTY MAIDENS (12U) 9:45 a.m. Sat, 4:45 p.m. Sat, 6:30 p.m., Sat

D1 POLSON LIL LAKERS (10U) 6:30 p.m. Fri, 11:30 a.m. Sat, 3 p.m., Sat

D2 FURY FASTPITCH (10U) 6:30 p.m. Fri, 3 p.m. Sat, 6:30 p.m., Sat

D3 BITTERROOT SPARKS (10U) 8 a.m. Sat, 11:30 a.m. Sat, 4:45 p.m., Sat

D4 C-TOWN LIL REBELS (10U) 6:30 p.m. Fri, 9:45 a.m. Sat, 6:30 p.m., Sat

D5 MT AVALANCHE (10U) 6:30 a.m. Fri, 8 a.m. Sat, 1:15 p.m., Sat

D6 ELECTRIC CITY HEAT-BROWN (10U) 9:45 a.m. Sat, 1:15 p.m. Sat, 4:45 p.m., Sat