Pirates softball in the “driver's seat,” headed into final conference games of the regular season

The Polson High School softball team may have solidified their conference title and secured a Montana High School Activities Association Class A state bid, but Lady Pirates’ coach Larry Smith is still focused on what his team can do to improve as they approach their final stretch of the regular season.

Polson split the two games they played Friday and Saturday at the Frenchtown High School Invitational toppling Fergus 10-2 and falling to Hamilton 6-4.

For Smith, the loss to the Lady Broncs stung only because they were hoping to avenge their 20-1 loss at the hands of Hamilton on April 10.

“Overall, I am pleased with the progress (our players have made),” Smith said. “I am a little bit disappointed about losing to Hamilton, but our team will keep rolling along and do fine.”

As Polson moves forward from finishing .500 at a 32-team tournament in Frenchtown, they will finish this week off playing Flathead High School at Polson and travel to Browning Friday to play another conference game.

By the end of this week, the Lady Pirates will have played two MHSA Class AA teams, the type of schedule coach Smith says he likes it that way.

“This will be a very busy week for us and there will be a lot of games,” Smith said.

Smith isn’t the type of coach that really looks ahead, but with five conference games remaining on the schedule, he acknowledged there are important games to win against Browning (May 4), Whitefish (May 8), Ronan (May 15), and Columbia Falls (May 17).

“Momentum is very important, especially around this time of year, and you really want your team playing their best and be up for any conference games,” Smith said.

With such a difficult schedule, including two potentially meaningful games against Columbia Falls and Ronan, two teams trying to earn their bid to state, Smith just continues to focus on his team’s gradual improvement over the next couple of weeks.

“I always tell the girls we should be improving at something during each practice,” Smith said. “Even if it is a simple little thing to just focus on and get better at. Each game you have to perform just a little bit better and have that mentality to keep improving. You can see the growth in leaps and bounds from our team from the beginning of the season until now.”

One player that has really bought into Smith’s philosophical approach to winning is Lady Pirates’ pitcher Vanessa Kent. Smith has noted that Kent has improved her pitching significantly since the beginning of the season.

“She has really gotten control over her fastball and we continue to work on alternative pitches to be able to use them in combinations for different situations,” Smith said. “She has really gained confidence in her ability to spot the ball and use different pitches to make her a more unhittable type of pitcher. We want to be able to move the ball in different locations and put a spin on the ball.”

Smith knows his team is in the driver’s seat, but he said he wants to maintain his team’s momentum moving forward.

“Right now, we are in the driver’s seat and in control of our own destiny,” Smith said. “Conversely, we still have five conference games and we don’t’ want to slip up in our final conference games.”