Maidens experience split results in first week

The Ronan Maidens learned a lot about themselves after they played their first two conference games of the season against Libby and Browning.

The results were varied, but the Maidens’ softball learned what they are capable of and what they still need to improve on.

Ronan throttled Browning 22-0 in its opener and proceeded to lose to Libby 16-4, the favorite to win the conference, and a team that is in the conversation to not only win conference, but also captured the Class A state title after moving up from the B-C classification last year.

One major benefactor for the Maidens was finding out what they have in pitching phenom Gabby Wirz. Wirz, who took last season off, proved immediately against Browning and Libby, she has what it takes to be in the conversation as one of the top-tier pitchers in a stockpiled conference.

Against Browning Wirz recorded nine strikeouts in five innings of work.

“I think defeating Browning was a huge confidence-booster for the girls,” Maidens’ coach Kellie Manyhides. “Last week we were in the gym everyday except one and honestly it was really nice to see and you can tell the summer program is coinciding nicely together and our girls really picked up right where they left off. They were aggressive on the bases and had a lot of stolen bases in that game and ran well, hit well and its two very different styles of games (we played) when you compare (Browning) and (Libby).”

Many hides, whose team lost ended up losing to Libby 16-4, remains adamant about her team’s high expectations. To put in prospective just how good Libby is, Polson Lady Pirates’ manager Larry Smith said he felt the Lady Loggers were in the conversation to capture a Class A state championship and they are the favorite to win the conference over established A teams such as Polson by the media.

“Libby has always had a good program and a great coaching staff,” Manyhides said in a pregame interview.. “They have really built their program into a solid foundation and if we could have (won that game) it would have turned some head that Ronan is here to compete. I am really excited and it’ll be a battle of the pitchers and we have an all-state player and she was tough and (the Libby game) is going to really come down to hitting and both pitcher are very tough to hit.”

Against the Lady Loggers the Maidens struggled to sustain the momentum it built in their 22-run victory over Browning.

“The girls did not bring their game today and we just seemed a little off,” Manyhides said of her team’s performance. “We could have hit better and defensively we made a lot of errors and made a lot of baselining errors and we just didn’t execute very well, but tomorrow is a new day and the girls are looking forward to (competing). We have two weeks until our next game and that is a lot of time to practice and work on things.”

Ronan had a lot of positives, according to Manyhides, and she is planning on building on that as they prepare to host Whitefish at 3 p.m. at Ronan High School.

“There were a lot of good things and our team laid down some really good bunts,” Manyhides said. “They were second (to Florence last year) in the Class B-C state and their catcher is one of the best high school catchers I’ve ever seen.”

Despite the loss Manyhides’ expectations for her team still remains high.

“I told the girls that we are very talented and once they realize their potential they will start believing and until we start believing (our progress won’t happen),” Manyhides said. “We had a lot of baserunning errors and (scoring opporutnities) we just didn’t connect the dots today.”