Columbia Falls softball team should be solid this year

The Columbia Falls girls softball team has been working hard in the off-season and is ready to hit the diamond, provided the fields dry out.

The girls haven’t been on the field much this year — the ground is still pretty soft, said coach Dave Kehr. But pitchers KJ Schweikert and Taylor Putnam have been putting in plenty of practice in the offseason, Kehr noted.

“They’ve been working hard,” he said.

Schweikert and Putnam get the nod on the mound after ace Ashley Trueblood graduated last year.

The team features five seniors — catcher Samantha Collins, Lottie Ellis, Kerry Lanners, Katie Price and Morgan Campbell-Queen. The rest are juniors. The junior varsity program is robust this year as well, with 11 freshmen entering the fray.

The jv team will open the season up this weekend with a tournament in St. Ignatius, which will give Kehr a good look at the younger players.

The varsity squad will get tested early and often. They open the season against Belgrade and Butte Central in Polson April 2 and then face Whitefish away April 7. Their first home game is April 11 against Glacier.

Unlike other sports, softball is keeping the same conference alignment, with 12 teams vying for a state tourney berth. The Northwest A will be without Libby, who dropped to Class B, but the Wildkats will still have some of the toughest foes in the state with Frenchtown and Polson in the division.

Frenchtown’s Morgan Ray — their almost unstoppable ace on the mound — has graduated, but they’re still a very good team. Polson lost almost no one to graduation, either.

The Kats will hope to stay healthier this season. Last year they lost Collins to a broken hand and their offense suffered, as they failed to make the state A playoffs.

Kehr is assisted by Kelly Stoelzle, who coaches the junior varsity team, as well as Tom Kemppainen and Chuck Freeman.