M-A-C softball earns No. 2 seed to state

The Lady Bulldogs of Mission (24-4) earned wins over Anaconda, Ennis and Manhattan last weekend at the Western B/C divisional tournament at Plains, but they couldn’t get past defending B/C champion Florence-Carlton. The Falcons cruised to a 12-0 win over M-A-C in the undefeated semifinal, then held on for a 15-11 win over the Lady Bulldogs in the championship game.

The Lady Bulldogs secured a berth for the upcoming state B/C tournament at Lewistown, where they will be the No. 2 seed from the West.

Their initial task at Plains involved avoiding getting snakebit in the first round by the Lady Copperheads of Anaconda. M-A-C inoculated themselves against any surprises with the application of an adequate amount of anti-venom in the form of putting their bats to work early. A home run by Lettie Umphrey and a handful of doubles from Hayleigh Smith, Izzy Evans and Katelyn Young helped fuel the fire necessary to advance.

Second round quarterfinal opponent Ennis taxed the resourcefulness of the Lady Bulldogs as the contest entered the final frame tied at 11 apiece. Batting at the bottom half of the seventh, M-A-C was able to maneuver a runner onto the basepath, followed by a RBI walkoff single from Rheid Crawford that plated the winning run to set up a game against Florence in the undefeated semifinal.

A rain delay shifted the contest from late Friday to the early morning hours of Saturday. Though it provided the Lady Bulldogs with some valuable rest, a 10-run Lady Falcon second inning made the outcome a foregone conclusion, rerouting the Lady Bulldogs into the third-place consolation match against Manhattan, with the winner advancing to face the awaiting defending B/C champions.

Eager about getting another crack at Florence, M-A-C caged the Lady Tigers early by scoring a half dozen runs the first pair of innings that included home runs from Rheid Crawford in the first and Izzy Evans in the second. Adding further insult to injury would be a pair of fourth inning mashed taters by both Kate Young and Gabby Smith as the Lady Bulldogs advanced to a rematch with Florence for the divisional crown.

In the title game, the M-A-C lineup came as close to tethering the Lady Falcons as any B/C team thus far this season, scoring the most runs against them of any opponent. Included among their 15-hit barrage were a pair of homers by Payton Smith in the first and fifth innings, a Kate Young dinger in the fourth, a Jerny Crawford long ball in the sixth, and a double from Lettie Umphrey along the way.

Second-seeded M-A-C will tangle with Eastern third-seed Conrad-Choteau (18-8) in their opening round at the State B/C tournament in Lewistown. The Lady Bulldogs have outscored their opponents by a better than 3:1 ratio, 343-105. Three of their losses have come at the talons of the defending BC champion Lady Falcons of Florence, while the fourth came against State A runner up Frenchtown.

Championship: Florence 15, Mission-Arlee-Charlo 11

1NW M-A-C (24-4), 1SW Florence (24-1)

Mssn-A-C 300 215 0 – 11 15 1

Florence 108 060 x – 15 15 2

Kylie Kovatch (7K,2W) and Kasidy Yeoman. Izzy Evans (3K,4W,1HB) and Katelyn Young. W – Kovatch (24-1). L – Evans (16-4).

M-A-C – Jerny Crawford 3-5, Hayleigh Smith 2-5, Rheid Crawford 1-5, Evans 1-4, P.Smith 3-3, Young 1-3, Bennan Andersen 2-4, Gabby Smith 1-4, Lettie Umphrey 1-4, (flex) Cassidy Orr, (cr) Xaria Jacobson.

FLORENCE – K.Yeoman 4-4, Jaidyn Larson 1-4, Kolbi Wood 2-4, Kovatch 2-3, Rylie Yeoman 1-4, Ava Philbrick 2-4, Madi Potter 1-3, Olivia Couter 1-4, Autumn Sutton 1-2, (cr) Claire Schneiter, Lily Bender.

HR – P.Smith 2, Young, J.Crawford; K.Yeoman. 3B – Philbrick. 2B – L.Umphrey; K.Yeoman 2, Philbrick. RBIs – J.Crawford 2, Evans 2, P.Smith 4, Young 2, Andersen; K.Yeoman 2, Larson, Wood 2, Kovatch, R.Yeoman, Philbrick 4, Potter 2, Sutton. BB – P.Smith, Young; K.Yeoman, Larson, Wood, Kovatch. HB – Sutton. SB – X.Jacobson, H.Smith, Larson, K.Yeoman. Runs – J.Crawford 2, H.Smith 2, R.Crawford, Evans, P.Smith 2, X.Jacobson, Young , G.Smith; K.Yeoman 3, Larson 2, Wood 2, Bender, R.Yeoman, Philbrick, Potter, Coulter 2, Sutton 2.

Mission-Arlee-Charlo 15, Manhattan 1

1NW M-A-C (24-3), 3SW Manhattan (17-10)

Mssn-A-C 421 44 – 15 17 0

Manhattan 001 00 – 1 3 4

Morgan Pavlik (0.1 IP:2H,3W), (1) Emma Kabalin and Adele Didriksen. Izzy Evans (4IP:1K,3H,0W), (5) Payton Smith and Katelyn Young. W – Evans (16-3). L – Pavlik. Sv – P.Smith.

M-A-C – Jerny Crawford 3-4, Hayleigh Smith 0-3, Rheid Crawford 3-4, Evans 1-2, P.Smith 2-3, Young 1-4, Bennan Andersen 2-4, Gabby Smith 3-4, Lettie Umphrey 1-4, (flex) Cassidy Orr, (cr) Xaria Jacobson.

MANHATTAN – Didriksen 0-2, Sierra Blanchard 0-2, Camdyn Holgate 0-2, Zohy O'Rouke 1-2, Morgan Pavlik 0-1, Delaney Doherty 0-1, Kabalin 1-2, Lexi Miller 1-2, Paige Ballantyne 1-2, Malia Friese 0-1.

HR – R.Crawford, G.Smith, Young, Evans; Lexi Miller. 3B – R.Crawford. 2B – J.Crawford, R.Crawford. RBIs – R.Crawford 4, Evans 2, Young 2, Anderson 3, G.Smith, L.Umphrey. BB – H.Smith, Evans 2, P.Smith. SB – H.Smith. Runs – J.Crawford 2, H.Smith 2, R.Crawford 3, Evans 3, P.Smith, X.Jacobson, Young, G.Smith 2; Miller.

Undefeated semifinal: Florence 12, Mission-Arlee-Charlo 0

1NW M-A-C (23-3), 1SW Florence (23-1)

Mssn-A-C 0( 0 )0 00– 0 6 4

Florence 2(10)0 0x – 12 10 2

Kylie Kovatch (9K,2W) and Kasidy Yeoman. Izzy Evans (3K,5W) and Katelyn Young. W – Kovatch. L – Evans (15-3)

M-A-C – J.Crawford 2-3, H.Smith 0-2, R.Crawford 1-3, Evans 1-3, P.Smith 0-3,Young 0-3, Anderson 1-2, G.Smith 1-1, Xaria Jacobson 0-0, L.Umphrey 0-1, .

FLORENCE – K.Yeoman 2-3, Jaidyn Larson 1-3, Kolbi Wood 1-4, Kovatch 1-2, Rylie Yeoman 2-3, Ava Philbrick 3-3, Madi Potter 1-3, Olivia Couter 0-1, Autumn Sutton 1-3, (cr) Elise Schneider.

HR – K.Yeoman, Sutton. 2B – R.Crawford; Philbrick, R.Yeoman, Larson, Wood. RBIs – K.Yeoman, Larson, Wood, Kovatch, Philbrick 2, Potter, Sutton 3. BB – X.Jacobson, L.Umphrey; K.Yeoman, Larson, Kovatch, Coulter 2. SB – Evans; K.Yeoman, Larson. CS – R.Yeoman. Runs – K.Yeoman 3, Larson 2, Wood, Kovatch, Philbrick, Potter, Coulter 2, Sutton.

Mission-Arlee Charlo 12, Ennis 11

1NW M-A-C (23-2),2SW Ennis (16-8)

Ennis 432 110 0 – 11 11 6

MAC 060 410 1 – 12 14 5

Payton Smith (1.1 IP:1K,4H,2W), (2) Izzy Evans (5.2 IP:2K,7H,1W) and Katelyn Young. Elizabeth Olson (), (6) Addison Retherford and Paxton Fortner. W – Evans (15-2). L – Retherford.

ENNIS – Jaylyn Jenkins 1-5, Shae Lovett 1-4, Payton Mallett 1-4, Megan Knack 2-5, Sage Canterbury 0-3, Olson 1-2, Fortner 1-4, Retherford 2-4, Mikayla Ledgerwood 2-4, (flex) Cassie Hilton.

MISSION-ARLEE-CHARLO – Jerny Crawford 1-5, Hayleigh Smith 2-5, Rheid Crawford 3-3, Evans 2-4, P.Smith 1-4, Young 1-4, Bennan Andersen 1-4, Gabby Smith 2-4, Lettie Umphrey 1-4, (flex) Cassidy Orr.

HR – Lovett, Knack; Andersen. 2B – Retherford 2, Mallett. RBIs – Lovett 2, Mallett, Knack 3, Olson 2, Retherford, Ledgerwood; J.Crawford, R.Crawford, Evans 2, P.Smith 2, Andersen 3. SF – Olson 2. BB – Lovett, Mallett, Canterbury; R.Crawford. HB – R.Crawford. SB – Evans 2, G.Smith, R.Crawford, L.Umphrey. Runs – Lovett 3, Mallett 3, Knack 2, Canterbury, Retherford, Ledgerwood; J.Crawford 2, H.Smith, R.Crawford 2, Evans, P.Smith 2, Young, Andersen, G.Smith, L.Umphrey.

Mission-Arlee-Charlo 14, Anaconda 2

1NW M-A-C (22-2), 4SW Anaconda (6-14)

Anaconda 010 01 – 2 5 9

Mssn-A-C 166 1x – 14 11 1

Izzy Evans (4K,3W) and Katelyn Young. Ashley Mitchell (1W,1HB) and Kadence Lunceford. W – Evans (14-2). L – Mitchell.

ANACONDA – Cara DeMarios 0-3, Sami Johnson 1-3, Mitchell 2-3, Taryn Coughlin 1-2, Mikayla McKelvy 0-2, Cara Fortner 0-2, Nicole Blaz 0-2, Kora Kelly 1-2, K.Lunceford 0-1.

MISSION-ARLEE-CHARLO – Jerny Crawford 2-3, Hayleigh Smith 1-3, Amelia Cronk 1-1, Rheid Crawford 0-4, Evans 1-3, Payton Smith 1-2, Young 1-2, Bennan Andersen 1-3, Gabby Smith 0-3, Lettie Umphrey 3-3, (cr) Xaria Jacobsen.

HR – L.Umphrey. 2B – Mitchell 2; H.Smith, Evans,Young. RBIs – Mitchell, K.Lunceford; J.Crawford 2, H.Smith 2, Evans 2, P.Smith, Andersen 2, GSmith, L.Umphrey 3. SF – J.Crawford. BB – Coughlin, McKelvy, K.Lunceford; P.Smith. HB – Young. SB – Young 2, J.Crawford, L.Umphrey, X.Jacobson, G.Smith. Runs – Johnson, McKelvy; J.Crawford 2, H.Smith 2, R.Crawford, P.Smith, Young, Andersen 2, G.Smith 3, L.Umphrey 2.