Softball: MAC and Polson remain conference powerhouses

Polson's Starr one-hits Browning

Two weeks ago, Polson Softball Coach Jami Hanson said his team's victories over Libby and Ronan were crucial.

Last week's victories over Columbia Falls and Browning improved the Lady Pirates' conference record to 6-0.

Avery Starr allowed just one hit in four innings of work at Polson and came away with the 18-1 victory over Browning on Saturday, April 22, and improved their record to 8-0 on the year.

The Lady Pirates led 13-0 after two innings and had a five-run rally in the top of the fourth. The team finished with ten hits, with McKenna Hanson notching two of those and driving in two runs.

Starr helped her cause, hitting two sacrifice flies and driving in four runs. Kailey Smith also drove in two runs, as did Ansley Nordberg. Hanson, Smith, and Olivia Jore all had doubles in the matchup.

"The ability to score every inning is so important, and our pride in our small ball adds a ton of relief to our pitching staff," Hanson said. "What is working best now is hitting and scoring runs, solid pitching and throwing to contact, and relying on our defense to make the routine plays."

Browning committed six errors in the Northwestern A Conference matchup.

At Browning

POLSON 18, BROWNING 1

Polson - 760 - 50 - 18 - 10 - 2

Browning - 000 - 1x - 1 - 1 - 6

Polson Hitting: Hits - McKenna Hanson 2, Ansley Nordberg 2, Carli Maley, Samantha Rensvold, Avery Starr, Kailey Smith, Olivia Jore, Jaja Nicholes; RBI - Avery Starr 4, Kailey Smith 2, Ansley Nordberg 2, McKenna Hanson 2, Samantha Renvold, Olivia Joe, Tyneesha Brown, Jaja Nichols; 2B - McKenna Hanson, Kailey Smith, Olivia Jore; HBP--Ansley Nordberg, Tyneesha Brown, Carli Maley, Olivia Jore. SACF--Avery Starr (2)

Polson Pitching: Avery Starr - 4 innings pitched, 1 hit, 1 run, 1 earned run, 1 walk, 9 strikeouts

Polson wins battle against C-Falls

Polson rallied with three runs in the top of the seventh to pick up an 8-6 victory over Northwestern A foe Columbia Falls on Friday, April 21, at home.

Polson led 5-3 after four innings before Columbia Falls grabbed a 6-5 lead in the bottom of the sixth. Starting pitcher Samantha Rensvold helped her own cause by hitting a go-ahead, 2-run single in the seventh inning for Polson.

Carli Maley finished the game with two hits, as did Avery Starr and Ashley Nordberg. Nordberg had a double and two RBI as well. Nikki Kendall stole two bases in the matchup as well. Polson finished with eight hits as a team.

The game saw a combined 13 errors by both teams.

Rensvold went five and one-thirds innings and struck out three, while Starr finished the final one and two-thirds innings of the game.

Heading down the season's stretch, Hanson said that the Lady Pirates will continue to build on chemistry as players and comradery of character.

"We need to continue trusting ourselves to make all the routine plays and have confidence in our hitting situations," Hanson said. The coach also wanted to thank the community for their continued support of Lady Pirate fastpitch.

At Columbia Falls

POLSON 8, COLUMBIA FALLS 6

Polson - 500 - 000 - 3 - 8 - 8 - 6

C-Falls - 210 - 012 - 0 - 6 - 11 - 7

Polson Hitting: Hits - C Maley 2, A Starr 2, A Nordberg 2, M Hanson, S Rensvold, RBI - S Renvold 2, A Nordberg 2, A Starr; 2B -A Norberg, SB - N Kendall 2, O Jore

Polson Pitching: S Rensvold - 5 and ⅓ innings pitched, 10 hits, six runs, 6 earned runs, 2 walks, 3 strikeouts; A Starr - 1 and ⅔ innings pitched, 1 hit, 0 runs, 0 earned runs, 2 walks

Ronan falls in close one to Libby

Libby scored the walk-off run in the bottom of the tenth to come away with a 9-8 Northwestern A Conference victory over Ronan on Saturday, April 22. The game saw several lead changes and plenty of fireworks from both teams' bats.

Ronan led 3-0 after one inning, but Libby tied it up in the bottom of the fourth. Ronan would score two in the top of the fifth to go up 5-3, but Libby responded that same inning with a three-run rally and two more runs in the bottom of the sixth.

Ronan scored three runs in the top of the seventh to knot things up 8-8, and that's how things would stay until the tenth.

Tyariah Morigeau pitched four innings for the Maidens striking out six and giving up just four earned runs. Kaydynce Santos pitched the final five innings, striking out eight.

While in the batters' box, Morigeau had two hits and drove in a run. Alexis Luedtke had a double, as did Kaleigh Benson

At Libby

LIBBY 9, RONAN 8

Ronan - 300 - 020 - 300 - 0 - 8 - 8 - 4

Libby - 002 - 132 - 000 - 1 - 9 - 18 - 9

Ronan Hitting: T Morigeau 2, A Luedtke, B Youngren, K Benson, T Burland, E Tapia, M Corum; RBI - T Morigeau, T Burland, K Benson; 2B - A Luedtke, K Benson; HBP - E Tapia Torosian, K Santos, K Benson; SB - K Kelch, B Youngren, R Bartel

Ronan Pitching: T Morigeau - 4 innings pitched, 8 hits, 5 runs, 4 earned runs, 1 walk, six strikeouts; K Santos - 5 innings pitched, 10 hits, 4 runs, 3 earned runs, 1 walk, 8 strikeouts

MAC bats do work against Troy

Mission-Arlee-Charlo's bats continue to do incredible work, as evidenced by their 18-2 victory over Troy on Thursday, April 20, to move to 8-0 on the season. By the numbers, seven different MAC players had multi-hit games, and four different batters drove in multiple runs.

"This entire team is a special group of girls," MAC Coach Shane Reum said. "We have a ton of speed with nine girls who can all hit the ball very well. Our defense is extremely solid and put that with strong pitching and we are able to play like this."

Gabby Smith hit a home run and finished the day with two hits and two RBI. Hayliegh Smith had three hits, two RBI, and three stolen bases. Bennan Anderson had three hits and drove in four runs. Jerny Crawford notched two doubles and drove in a run.

In all MAC had 18 hits as a team, and led 8-0 after three innings and then scored another 11 in the final two stanza's of the shortened game against Troy. In all, 10 different players drove in runs for MAC.

Troy was held to four hits and two runs off the pitching of Izzy Evans and Kason Page. Evans struck out four and gave up no earned runs, while Page struck out three and gave up just one earned run.

At Troy

MAC 19, TROY 2

MAC - 602 - 65 - 19 - 18 - 1

Troy - 001 - 10 - 2 - 4 - 4

MAC Hitting: Hits - H Smith 3, B Andersen 3, J Crawford 2, I Evans 2, K Page 2, L Umphrey 2, G Smith 2, K Incashola, R Crawford; RBI - B Andersen 4, H Smith 2, L Umphrey 2, G Smith 2, J Crawford, K Incashola, R Crawford, I Evans, K Page, M Christopher; 2B - J Crawford 2, K Incashola, R Crawford, L Umphrey, K Page, I Evans; 3B - I Evans; HR - G Smith; SB - H Smith 3, J Crawford 2

MAC Pitching: I Evans - 3 innings pitched, 1 hit, 1 run, 0 earned runs, 2 walks, 4 strikeouts; K Page - 2 innings pitched, 1 run, 1 earned run, 1 walk, 3 strikeouts

Fireworks plentiful in MAC victory

Home runs came aplenty for Mission-Arlee-Charlo in a 25-9 victory over Plains on Monday, April 17. Bennan Andersen hit two home runs and drove in six runs as her team finished with 19 hits.

Gabby Smith, Jerny Crawford and Izzy Evans also had home runs in the matchup. Evans finished with three hits, two doubles, and four RBI as well. Crawford tallied four hits, three RBI, a double, and triple in the victory as well.

Reum said that with eight seniors and the same infield as last year, with the exception of catcher, the team has a multitude of avenues they can go down for numbers.

"Our catcher Lettie Umphrey is doing a great job behind the plate," Reum said. "Our shortstop and second baseman are twin sisters Jerny and Rheid Crawford, that will cover the whole infield and make amazing plays. Jerny has amazing speed and instincts, and Rheid has a way to get to the ball and catch just about anything close to her."

Third base is covered by Gabby Smith, one of the toughest kids Reum has seen, adding she works extremely hard to ensure nothing gets by her on the hot corner.

"First baseman Payton Smith is a very reliable glove that secures a lot of outs for us, and is very game-wise," Reum said. "Our center fielder Hayleigh Smith has amazing speed and a great glove. She controls our outfield and is a great leader out there."

Andersen has amazing bat power - as evident in this game and leads the team in home runs. According to Reum, she is the soul of the team.

MAC led 5-4 after one inning but exploded for 10 runs in the top of the second, notched another run in the third, and blasted Plains pitching for another nine runs in the top of the fourth.

Rheid Crawford had three hits and two RBI, while Kason Page also had three hits, a double, and a triple while driving in four runs. Hayleigh Smith had two hits and stole three bases in the matchup.

Meanwhile, in the circle, Evans struck out four and walked one in four innings of work.

"Our main pitcher, Izzy Evans is a junior. She has put a ton of off-season work into becoming a dang good pitcher,” Reum said. “She is also our clean-up hitter and has a very nice batting average."

Having taken second the last two years in a row at state, Reum said that the team is hungry.

"We have to focus on one pitch, one at bat, one inning, one game at a time," Reum said. "We cannot sleep on anybody. We have to make sure we keep our batts going, stay focused on defense, and make sure we have each other's back."

At Plains

MAC 25, PLAINS 9

MAC - 5(10)1 - 9 - 25- 19 - 3

Plains - 401 - 4 - 9 - 8- 4

MAC Hitting: Hits - J Crawford 4, R Crawford 3, I Evans 3, K Page 3, H Smith 2, B Andersen 2, L Umphrey, G Smith; RBI - B Andersen 6, I Evans 4, K Page 4, J Crawford 3, R Crawford 2, P Smith, L Umphrey, G Smith; 2B - I Evans 2, K Page, J Crawford, L Umphrey; 3B - K Page, J Crawford; HR - B Andersen 2, G Smith, J Crawford, I Evans; HBP - L Umphrey; SB - H Smith 3, R Crawford, J Crawford

MAC Pitching: I Evans - 4 innings pitched, 8 hits, 9 runs, 8 earned runs, 1 walk, 4 strikeouts