Area softball gloves three all-staters, ten all-conference nods
MISSION-ARLEE-CHARLO baseball player Kenzie Couture was named to the Class B-C All-Tournament team. Courture was a key contributor to a Lady Bulldogs team that finished thrid in Class B-C this season. (Jason Blasco/Lake County Leader)
POLSON SOFTBALL player Kaelyn Smith, Jr. was named to the All Class A first team at the end of the season. Smith was one of the Lady Pirates’ key contributors to a team that qualified for the Class A state tournament team in Sidney. (Photo courtesy of Bob Gunderson)
Mission Valley area teams reaped ten players acknowledged with postseason all-conference recognition that included a trio of all-state honors.
A trio of Lady Bulldog players were conferred with postseason honors from State B-C third place finisher Mission-Arlee-Charlo (21-7-1). Senior pitcher Ran’Dee Charlo received All-State as well as first-team recognition for her 19 win season on the mound as well as for the bludgeon of her bat at the plate, which stroked *three dozen hits that included 16 for extra bases while leading the team with *29RBIs. The pitching prowess of Charlo factored into the outcome of all but two contests this season. Fellow senior teammate catcher Kenzie Couture and sophomore pitcher/outfielder Tomi Brazill were honored with second-team acknowledgement for their contributions to their team’s 21 victory season. Couture had *33 hits this season, a dozen for extra bases, while generating *23 RBIs. Brazill turned in another *26 hits for the Lady Bulldog offense as well as threw dozens of innings from the mound. Both Charlo and Couture were named to the all-tournament team as well.
Six Lady Pirates
receive honors
A half dozen Lady Pirates were accentuated for their athletic aptitude with accolade acknowledgement from State A fourth place finisher Polson (18-10). Both leadoff batter Kaelyn Smith and followup speedster Laurel Bitterman repeated as all-staters along with concurrent first-team recognition. Smith led the team in three categories this season: batting average (.541), runs scored (43) and stolen bases (50), eclipsing last year’s single season then record breaking 41. Smith was also named to the State A all-tournament team. Bitterman racked up second highest numbers on the team for hits (46H), runs scored as well as stolen bases (25SB).
Receiving first team recognition was senior pitcher Haley Fyant (124K), who led the team in RBIs (32) as well as had the third highest batting average (.494) and the second most hits for extra bases (15). Fyant would have been conferred with conference bonus all-state recognition had Polson succeeded in advancing into the hardware rounds.
A trio of senior Lady Pirates receiving second team recognition include infielders Camas Renault along with Hannah Fryberger and catcher Ashley Benson. Renault had the second highest batting average among the team (.524) as well as provided supplemental relief as part of the pitching rotation. Fryberger led the team in extra base hits (17) that included a trio of home runs, had the third leading number of hits (41) and generated the second most RBIs (30) on the team behind Fyant. Middle of the order batter Benson had the third highest number of RBIs (23) and fifth highest number of hits among the team with 39.
Rounding out the recognition is Ronan (4-20), which placed junior infielder Courtnee Clairmont on the second team list. Clairmont was one of the leading hitters among the Maidens as well as anchored the infield with her glove work.
Asterisk(*) denotes stats derived from media coverage that may differ from M-A-C team scorebook. Slight variations in stat specs may occur on account of differences in assessment criteria between away venue evaluations and home book.
ALL-STATE
NWA – Kaelyn Smith, Polson; Laurel Bitterman, Polson
Western BC – Ran’Dee, Charlo
ALL-CONFERENCE
1st-Team Northwest A
Kaelyn Smith, jr. (if), Polson; Laurel Bitterman, jr. (of), Polson; Haley Fyant, sr. (p), Polson.
2nd-Team Northwest A
Hannah Fryberger, sr. (if), Polson; Ashley Benson, sr. (c), Polson; Camas Renault, sr. (if/p), Polson
1st-Team Western B-C
Ran’Dee Charlo, sr. (p), M-A-C
2nd-Team Western B-C
Kenzie Couture, sr. (c ), M-A-C
Tomi Brazill, so. (of/p), M-A-C
Courtnee Clairmont, jr. (if) Ronan
2017 STATE A ALL-TOURNAMENT
Ty Atwood, of (jr.), Belgrade
Kalista Pachl if (sr.), Belgrade
Shania Neubauer, p/if/of, (sr.), Belgrade
Erin Elgas if/of/p (so.), Belgrade
Megan Delaney, if (jr.), Frenchtown
Carley Thompson, of (sr.), Frenchtown
Brynn Leishman, p (jr.), Frenchtown
Tessa Della Silva, of (jr.), Hamilton
Rachel Richardson, if (sr.), Hamilton
Kaelyn Smith, if (jr.), Polson
Honorable Mention
Haylee Curry, c/of (so.), Belgrade
Olivia Cook, if (so.), Belgrade
Presley Jacobson, of (jr.), Belgrade
Haley Fyant, p/if (sr.), Polson
2017 STATE B-C ALL-TOURNAMENT
Brianna Hoffman, Florence
Natalie Dulac, Florence
Chloe Arthur, Florence
Shannon Byrne, Florence
Haylee Cannon, Libby
Madisen Monigold, Libby
Khalyn Hageness, Libby
Ran’Dee Charlo, Mission-Arlee-Charlo
Kenzie Couture, Mission-Arlee-Charlo
Tyra Johnson, Glasgow