Kats go 2-1 to open season

The Columbia Falls girls softball team opened their season with a 2-1 mark last week. The Wildkats walloped Whitefish on March 29 at home 21-0. On Friday, they got past Glacier High School 8-7 after a four-run rally in the sixth inning, but on Saturday, Polson downed the Kats 14-1.

Against the Bulldogs, freshmen pitchers Ashley Trueblood and Winter Kemppainen combined for a no-hitter in a game that was shortened by the 10-run rule.

The two young pitchers had plenty of offensive help as the Kats racked up 15 runs in the third inning.

Shaun Rowe had a double, a triple, and four RBIs. Niki Birky was 2-for-2 with a double and two RBIs to pace the Kats.

“I was pretty happy with the hitting,” coach Dave Kehr said after the Whitefish game.

He was also pleased with the quality of the pitching by his freshmen.

“Ashley started really well,” he said. “The girls did a nice job.”

Against Glacier, the girls had a couple of errors in the fourth inning, and the Wolfpack moved ahead to a 7-2 advantage. But the Kats chipped away at the lead, scoring two in the bottom of the fifth to make it 7-4.

Then an RBI single by Tiffany Hummer in the sixth with no one out made it 7-5. Birky came up to bat with two out and hit a grounder to the pitcher, but the throw was wide and Birky sprinted to third. The throw to cut her off was also wide, and Birky raced home with two on to make it 8-7.

Kemppainen pitched two great innings of relief to keep the Wolfpack off the plate and preserve the victory.

Against Polson, the Pirates jumped out to an early lead when Pirate pitcher Shalaina Duford hit a three-run homer in the first and then got on the mound and held the Kats to five hits for the game.

The girls are on spring break this week. They’ll get another shot at Polson on April 10 with a home game against the Pirates. Varsity start time is 5:30 p.m.