Girls softball falls short in state tourney hopes

They needed some help from Libby and they needed to beat Polson. Neither happened, and the Columbia Falls girls softball team's season came to an end.

The Kats lost to Polson last Thursday 8-4, but beat Ronan Friday 3-1.

The Kats led the Pirates 2-1 after four innings when senior Cassidee Skiles hit a homer with a runner on base.

But Polson barreled back with seven runs in the bottom of the fourth to make it 8-2. The Kats tacked on a run in the top of the fifth after Shaun Rowe hit a double to send Madison Sandefer across the plate. The Kats would add a run in the top of the sixth to cut the lead to four, but that's as close as they would get.

In a lot of ways, the season came down to a few bad innings.

"We've given up one inning in a lot of games (this season)," coach Dave Kehr said. "We were in every single game except for a few innings. It was just one of those years."

Even if the girls won, they still needed a loss by Libby and that didn't happen — the Loggers beat Whitefish, sealing the Kats' fate.

The Kats beat Ronan for their last home game of the season as pitcher Morgan Rowe threw a one hitter and hit a home run in the win.

Columbia Falls ended the year 10-10 overall and 3-5 in conference play. There's a lot of potential for next year for this young team. Just three seniors will leave — Skiles, Michonne Cronquist and Morgan Rowe.

This year's team had a tough time with injuries. Starting second baseman Niki Birky and catcher Erika Nelson were both knocked out for the second half of the season. Birky had an elbow injury up until the Polson game and Nelson broke her finger. Both were key players.

Kathrin Jetty filled in as catcher and did an admirable job, Kehr said.

The Kats have several freshmen who gained valuable experience this year. The junior varsity squad went 12-2 on the year.

"There's a lot of positives," Kehr said. "Defensively we were fairly solid. The future looks good."

Shaun Rowe and Jessica Owens, as well as Nelson can all pitch and open gym starts in December.

Play ball.