Lady Pirates unravel against Wildkats

Following several weeks of dominant wins, the Lady Pirates softball team had the tables turned on them Friday night at Larry Smith Field, where they lost 14-4 in five innings to Columbia Falls (3-0, 9-1)

Coming into the key conference clash, Polson was sporting a 5-0 record and had outscored opponents 54-2.

The Wildcats led 1-0 after two innings, and it appeared that a competitive game between conference powers was at hand.

Disaster struck for Polson in the third, however. With runners on the corners and no outs, Columbia Falls’ Sydney Mann laid down a bunt, which was cleanly fielded by Polson pitcher Katelyne Druyvestein. The Lady Pirates pitcher tossed the ball to first baseman Avery Starr on time, but the ball was knocked from Starr’s glove in a hard collision with Mann at the bag. Mann was called safe on the play, and two runs scored, helped in part by subsequent errant throw that ended up in the outfield.

The Lady Pirates appeared shaken by the play, and the Wildcats went on to plate eight runs in the inning, with a pair of doubles and a two-run homer by Kyrah Trenkle along the way.

Polson committed a slew of errors in the inning, and finished with nine overall in the game.

The Wildkats went up 14-0 in the fourth after a three-run home run to deep center by Abbie Darsow.

Polson put up a crooked number in the fourth, getting an RBI double from Nikki Kendall and a 2-run triple from Jaivin Bad Bear. Down 14-4, the defending State A champions got a runner to second in the fifth inning but couldn’t score, and the game ended under the mercy rule.

Druyvestein struck out five and allowed five hits before exiting the mound with two outs in the third. She allowed nine runs, but just one was earned. Turquoise Pierre pitched in relief, allowing five hits and striking out one batter the rest of the way.

Columbia Falls pitcher Maddie Moultray went the distance and struck out eight Polson batters.

It was the first win over Polson for the Wildkats since 2019. Polson is scheduled to visit Columbia Falls on May 19.

Less than 24 hours after their shocking first loss of the season, Polson (3-1, 6-1) took their home field again Saturday afternoon against Browning (0-3, 0-4) and got off to an electric start when Druyvestein hammered a line drive home run to right center on the game’s first pitch en route to a 20-0 win. It was Druyvestein’s first career over-the-fence home run, and it nearly cleared the second fence guarding Second Street.

The Lady Pirates went on to score eight runs before recording a single out.

Druyvestein struck out five in two innings against the Lady Indians, and Pierre struck out seven over three innings to complete the shutout.

Polson put the game away in the second, when Kendall drove in three runs with a double and Carli Maley smashed a two-run homer.

Polson heads to Frenchtown this weekend, along with Ronan and Mission-Arlee-Charlo, for the 16-team Frenchtown Invitational. Each team will play four different opponents (though not one another) over two days.

Columbia Falls 14, Polson 4

C-Falls 018 50 – 14 10 1

Polson 000 40 – 4 8 9

Maddie Moultray (8K,2W) and Demye Rensel. Katelyne Druyvestein (2.2 IP:5K,5H,0W), (3) Turquoise Pierre (2.1 IP:1K,5H,2W) and Mckenna Hanson. W – Moultray. L – Druyvestein. (5-1).

COLUMBIA FALLS – Syd Mann 1-2, Haylee Lawrence 1-4, Moultray 1-3, Aspen Dawson 1-4, Haden Peters 1-4, Abbie Darsow 1-2, Alethia Fisher 1-4, Kyrah Trenkle 3-3, Rensel 0-2, (cr): Annika Reid, Tayler Lingle.

POLSON – Druyvestein 2-3, Hanson 1-2, Nikki Kendall 1-2, T.Pierre 0-3, Carli Maley 1-3, Avery Starr 1-2, Kailey Smith 0-3, Jaivin BadBear 2-3, Anna Vert 0-2, (flex) Ashylnn Depoe, (cr) Lexi Johnson.

HR – Trenkle, Darsow. 3B – BadBear. 2B – Hanson. RBIs – Mann, Moultray, Dawson, Peters 3, Darsow 3; BadBear 2, Vert, Kendall. SH – Mann, Darsow 2, Rensel. BB – Mann, Moultray; Starr, Kendall. HB – Hanson. FC – Lawrence. ROE – Mann, Moultray, Dawson 2, Peters 2, Rensel; Starr. SB – Druyvestein. Runs – Mann, Lawrence 2, Lingle 2, Dawson 2, Peters 3, Darsow, Trenkle 2, Reid; Maley, Starr, BadBear, Druyvestein.

Polson 20, Browning 0

Browning ( 0 )00 00 – 0 0 5

Polson (10)62 2x – 20 11 2

Brooke Blue (0.2 IP:6H,2W,3HB), (1) Susan Connelly and S.Connelly, (1) Blue. Katelyn Druyvestein (2IP:5K), (3) Turquoise Pierre (3IP:7K) and Mckenna Hanson, (3) Carli Maley. W – Druyvestein (6-1). L – Blue. Sv – Pierre.

BROWNING – Kaytins Evans 0-2, Blue 0-2, Madison Augare 0-2, Paris Vaile 0-2, Larissa Lahr 0-2, Emily Williams 0-1, Jennika Marceau 0-1, Aubriana Momberg 0-0, Joslyn Grinsell 0-1, Whitley Bird 0-1.

POLSON – Druyvestein 1-2, Tyneesha Brown 0-1, Hanson 0-0, Caitlyn Ward 0-2, Nikki Kendall 2-4, T.Pierre 1-2, Maley 2-3, Kailey Smith 2-3, Ashlynn Depoe 1-2, Ansley Nordberg 0-1, Jaivin BadBear 1-1, Lexi Johnson 0-0, Anna Vert 1-2, Julia Barnard 0-1.

HR – Druyvestein, Maley. 2B – Kendall. RBIs – Druyvestein, Hanson 2, Kendall 4, T.Pierre, Maley 3, Ka.Smith, Johnson, Vert, Barnard. BB – Druyvestein, Brown, T.Pierre, Maley, Ka.Smith, Depoe, BadBear, Johnson 2, Barnard. HB – Hanson 3, T.Pierre. FC – T.Pierre, Depoe, Ward, Barnard. ROE – Blue; Druyvestein, Maley, Ka.Smith, Brown. SB – Hanson, Johnson. Runs – Druyvestein 2, Hanson 2, Kendall, T.Pierre 3, Maley 3, Ka.Smith, Depoe 2, BadBear 2, Johnson 2, Vert, Barnard.