Mission Valley athletes shine at Veterans Memorial Classic
Polson's Olivia Jore tags out Ronan's Nikki Kendall during a spring softball game. Both played in the 11th annual Veterans Memorial Classic in Belgrade. (Bob Gunderson photo)
Six different Mission Valley players represented their communities at the 11th annual Veterans Memorial Classic at the Belgrade Softball Complex on Friday and Saturday, July 26-27.
Polson’s Carli Maley and Mckenna Hanson played for the Marines, while fellow Lady Pirates Sam Rensvold played for the Coast Guard and Olivia Jore played for the Air Force. Mission-Arlee-Charlo’s Izzy Evans played for the Coast Guard, and Ronan’s Nikki Kendall played for the Army.
The Marines went 1-3 but opened the tournament with a 12-4 win over Coast Guard. Hanson went 2-for-3 with a home run, while Maley also had a hit. For Coast Guard, Evans had a hit and struck out one on the mound. Rensvold also pitched a scoreless inning.
The Marines lost to Coast Guard in a rematch 9-5. Hanson went 2-for-2 with a home run and a double, while Maley had a base hit. For Coast Guard, Rensvold had a double and an RBI. She also pitched three innings, striking out four and allowing just three hits and two runs. Evans struck out two in two and two-thirds innings of work.
Maley also had a hit in the Marines 8-2 loss to Navy. In their final game, the Marines lost to Air Force 6-5 but Maley had a hit and drove in a run, while Hanson had a hit.
Coast Guard went 4-2, including a 10-7 victory over Air Force, where Rensvold went 2-for-2 with two RBI and a home run.
Air Force’s Jore went 2-3 with an RBI. She also pitched three innings and struck out three.
Coast Guard also defeated Air Force 19-15, and Evans went 1-for-2 with a double. Air Force’s Jore went 2-3 with 4 RBI and had a double. Coast Guard then battled to a victory over Army 12-8. Rensvold went 3-for-3 at the plate with an RBI and struck one batter out on the mound. Evans went 1-for-3 with two RBI while pitching over five innings and striking out two.
Army’s Kendall went 3-for-3 in the loss with a double and home run.
Navy defeated Coast Guard 9-7, but Rensvold went 2-for-2 with an RBI and pitched two and two-thirds innings, striking out two. Evans went 2-for-3 with three RBI and a home run.
Army went 1-2, but Kendall was a standout, scoring a home run and two RBI in a 10-5 loss to Air Force. Jore was 1-2 with 2 RBI for the Air Force team.
Kendall also pitched an inning, allowing just a hit and run.
In a 9-1 loss to Navy, Kendall pitched two-thirds of an inning, allowing a hit and striking out one.
In the catcher pop-up contest, Jore placed fourth, while Maley placed sixth.
Kendall had the best batting average for the tournament – .750 – while Rensvold had a .614 average, McKenna Hanson had a .455 average, and Olivia Jore had a .444 average.