'Kats take two from Havre

By virtue of a pair of weekend wins over Havre, Columbia Falls moved into first place in the Western A in high school softball.

Behind the pitching of junior Morgan Rowe and hitting of senior Amber James, the Wildkats swept Havre — posting a 7-5 win Friday and squeaking out a 2-1 victory Saturday. Later Saturday, C-Falls shut out Cut Bank, 10-0. All three games were played in Havre.

With the two league wins, the Wildkats led the Western A with a 5-1 record. Polson was second at 4-1, and Havre dropped to 5-2 — suffering its first two conference losses to C-Falls. The Wildkats are 9-3 overall.

Breaking a 3-3 tie, Cassidee Skiles blasted a two-run homer in the top of the fourth inning of Friday's win over Havre.

"That was a big highlight for us," C-Falls head coach Dave Kehr said.

The Wildkats collected nine hits off losing pitcher Tabby Myers, and five of them were for extra bases. Tia Yaeger and Amanda Milliard were both 2-for-3, each with a pair of doubles. Skiles and James were also 2-for-3.

Rowe gave up five hits. She struck out one batter and walked three.

IN SATURDAY'S one-run win, Rowe pitched a 4-hitter, allowing Havre only a fifth-inning run.

C-Falls took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning — thanks to Erika Nelson, a freshman playing in her first varsity game. Freshman Shaun Rowe led off the inning with a double and two outs later scored on a single by Nelson.

The lead went to 2-0 in the third. James led off with a double and Jordan Lefevbre went in as a courtesy runner for the Wildkat all-state catcher. One out later, Shaun Rowe grounded out to third. On the throw back to third trying to catch Lefebvre advancing, the ball got by the Havre third baseman and Lefebre scored.

The Blue Ponies had runners on first and second in the seventh with two outs, but Morgan Rowe retired the next batter — leadoff hitter Holly Cartwright — on a pop fly to shortstop Milliard.

Rowe struck out one batter and walked two.

C-Falls had six hits, two by James. She had a double.

"They play solid defense. They don't make many mistakes," Kehr said of Havre. "We had just enough hits to get the job done."

Cartwright had an RBI triple for the Blue Ponies.

Rowe and Milliard combined on a 2-hit shutout in the win over Cut Bank. The game went only 4 1/2 innings due to the 10-run rule.

Pitching the first three innings, Rowe allowed two hits. Milliard held Cut Bank hitless in the last two innings. Neither hurler walked a batter. Morgan struck out four and Milliard fanned one.

C-Falls had only five hits, but Cut Bank committed seven errors. James was 2-for-3 with a home run, her second of the season.

"We had good all-around contributions from everybody," Kehr said of the three weekend wins.

Kehr said Yaeger had a great weekend batting while James did the same and was solid behind the plate. No. 3 batter Milliard also hit the ball well, according to the coach.

In the outfield, Kehr said Shaun Rowe had a couple of nice catches and Skiles had another. Renae Nelson was solid at second base as well.

The Wildkats play four games in the Butte Central Tournament this weekend. They face Belgrade, which finished third at state last season, Friday at 10 a.m.

Belgrade is currently the No. 1 team in the Eastern A.

"They're very good. It will be a great test for us," Kehr said.

C-Falls plays Corvallis at 3:15 p.m. Friday. On Saturday, match-ups are at 10 a.m. against Dawson County, and 3:15 p.m. versus Hardin.

Columbia Falls 300 210 1 - 7 9 3

Havre 300 010 1 - 5 5 2

Morgan Rowe and Amber James; Tabby Myers and Kelli Kelsey. WP — Rowe. LP — Myers.

Columbia Falls — Renae Nelson 0-4, Tia Yaeger 2-2, Amanda Milliard 2-3, James 2-3, Kayla Stinger 1-3, Shaun Rowe 0-3, Cassidee Skiles 2-3, M. Rowe 0-3, Cedar Smith 0-3.

Havre — Holly Cartwright 0-4, Karly Evans 1-4, Sam Mack 1-4, Kelsey 1-4, Natalie Kato 1-3, Myers 0-1, Abigail Ha 0-3, Amanda Hanson 0-2, Cortney Bricker 1-3.

Havre 000 010 0 - 1 4 1

Columbia Falls 011 000 x - 2 6 1

Evans and Kelsey; M. Rowe and James. WP — Rowe. LP — Evans.

Yaeger 1-2, R. Nelson 1-3, Milliard 0-3, James 2-3, Stinger 0-3, S. Rowe 1-3, Skiles 0-2, M. Rowe 0-2, Erika Nelson 1-3.

Havre — Cartwright 1-4, Evans 0-3, Mack 1-3, Kelsey 0-3, Kato 0-3, Myers 0-3, Ha 2-3, Andrea Nault 0-2, Bricker 0-2.

Cutbank 000 00 - 0 2 7

Columbia Falls 324 1x - 10 5 0

Kim Suta and Kraft; M. Rowe, Milliard (4) and James and E. Nelson (4). WP — Rowe. LP — Suta.

Columbia Falls — Yaeger 1-2, R. Nelson 0-3, Milliard 1-3, James 2-3, Stinger 1-2, S. Rowe 0-2, E. Nelson 0-1, Skiles 0-3, M. Rowe 0-2, Cowan 0-2.

Cut Bank — Suta 2-2, Greenwalt 0-1, Ball 0-2, DeZort 0-2, Ford 0-2, Calf Boss Ribs 0-2, Welker 0-2, Laird 0-2, Miller 0-1.