Northwestern A aiming for 10th straight softball title
When it comes to softball, Polson coach Larry Smith can say he’s ‘been there, done that’ to practically everything associated with the game.
He’s mentored seven state high school championship teams, been in the dugout for perfect games and no-hitters, watched walk-off home runs, grand slams and triple plays, and helped countless players garner all-state honors and college scholarships.
However, there is something he has yet to cross off his softball bucket list, if he indeed does have one and if this is one of those items, for the sport of his passion.
“I’ve never been to Sidney,” he said Monday evening.
Well, he’ll get an opportunity to do that this week.
Smith and his Pirates head east, no, make that way, way east, to Sidney for the Class A state softball tournament.
Polson (14-6 overall, 3-3 Northwestern A) finished third in league play to advance to state as the No. 3 seed from its division. The Pirates will face Lewistown, the No. 2 seed from the Central division, on Thursday in first-round action at 11 a.m.
Lewistown lost to Belgrade in their divisional tournament championship game last week 10-0 to advance.
Northwestern A champ Frenchtown (17-1, 5-0) has a first-round bye at state while No. 2 seed Columbia Falls (13-8, 3-3) faces Havre on Thursday at 1 p.m.
Northwestern A, along with Southwestern A, do not hold divisional tournaments.
Polson and Lewistown were scheduled to play in the Butte Central tournament earlier this month, but that game was washed out.
The Polson/Lewistown winner advances to face Hamilton, the No. 1 seed from the Southwestern, at 3 p.m. Thursday. Hamilton has a first-round bye.
Hamilton and Polson split a pair of one-run games this spring — Hamilton winning 8-7 and Polson triumphing 4-3.
Polson left for the 543-mile journey to Sidney on Tuesday, practiced later that day in Belgrade and spent the night in Billings. The team completed the final segment of the trip on Wednesday.
The last state championship for Polson was 2012. It has won the last three on the road.
The Pirates have missed out on state just once — their first season of play when there was just one class for all teams.
“It’s good for the program,” Smith said of all that postseason success.
“I think it puts a lot of pressure on the kids as they are expected to perform. Most accept it and like that ... to win it all every year.
“I like it where we are at,” Smith said of his team’s readiness for the weekend finale.
“I’m feeling very good about it. We’re sitting in a good position to have a successful tournament.”
The Pirates are led offensively by leadoff hitter Kaelyn Smith. The junior center fielder has a .573 batting average and .610 on-base percentage.
“She’s our slap hitter,” Smith said.
“She’s our speedster … stole 41 bases. That equals her record from last year.”
She will likely set a new school mark this weekend.
Haley Fyant, a senior pitcher, is next, hitting .525 followed by Camas Renault, a senior third baseman/back-up pitcher, at .514.
Hannah Fryberger, a senior second baseman, leads Polson in home runs with four.
As a team, Polson is hitting .434.
“I would say that,” Smith said of offense being the team’s biggest strength.
“Our biggest problem sometimes is not getting the key hit with runners on. We’ve left a lot of runners on base in losses.”
Fyant is also enjoying a banner season in the circle.
“She throws very hard,” Smith said.
“She’s intimidating to a lot of the batters.”
Smith said her control is “efficiently wild,” which keeps hitters on edge.
Renault also will see some time in the circle.
“She has pretty good control,” Smith said of Renault.
“She doesn’t have the speed Haley (Fyant) does so our defense has to make plays behind Camas.”
A loaded offense and the strong arm of senior KJ Schweikert has produced another standout season for the Columbia Falls Wildcats.
Columbia Falls has ripped 18 home runs, led by the sweet swing of Sydney Hovde, who has seven.
Peyton Kehr and Hannah Freeman have three each, Schweikert and Trista Cowan two apiece and Kaylee Ashe one.
Hovde, a senior first baseman, is hitting .450. She has 22 RBIs and nine doubles, both team highs.
Hovde last year was an outfielder.
Schweikert is hitting .453. She has seven doubles and 15 RBIs. In the circle, she is 11-8 and has posted five shutouts. She has fanned 109 batters and has not committed an error.
Kehr, a senior, center fielder is hitting .453. She has 18 RBIs and eight doubles.
Cowan, a sophomore shortstop, has a .415 average. She has six doubles a triple and has driven in 13 runners.
Freeman, a senior, is hitting .364 with six doubles and one triple.
Ashe, a sophomore left fielder and leadoff hitter, has 16 RBIs.
Senior Taylar Putnam, third base, has struck out only twice in 60 at-bats. She is hitting .304.
The Columbia Falls/Havre winner moves on to face Miles City, the Eastern Divisional champion at 5 p.m. Thursday.
Thursday’s first-round losers drop into consolation play on Friday with games at 9 and 11 a.m.
Libby, the top seed in Western B-C and the divisional champion, opens B-C state play Thursday at the Frenchtown Softball Complex.
The Loggers, who missed out on state last year, will face Great Falls Central, the No. 4 seed from the Eastern, at 4 p.m.
The Loggers survived a marathon Saturday at the divisional in Libby, losing in the semifinals before coming back to win three straight, including two victories over Florence in the championship game of the double-elimination tournament. Libby (20-6 overall) played six games in two days, going 5-1.
“It was a tough one to come back from,” Libby coach Dean Thompson said of the semifinal loss at divisionals, “but the girls came back and played hard. It was one hit at a time, one score at a time, one game at a time. That’s how we look at it. That’s our motto.”
Thompson, in his 19th season as head coach, has missed out on state just three times. This will also Libby’s final games in B-C as the Loggers are moving back up to Class A next season.
“It would be great,” he said to go out with a title.
“There are some really good teams here. Glasgow is one of the favorites. They have seven returning seniors.
“Conrad won it last year,” he continued.
“Florence is tough, Huntley Project is playing well. It is a wide-open tournament.”
Thompson said Libby is playing great defense, the offense continues to produce timely hits, but more importantly “we’re starting to jell. The best time to do that is right now.”
Senior shortstop Madisen Monigold and senior third baseman Abby Ennenga “both played great at the divisional tournament on offense and defense,” Thompson said.
“Madisen had some great plays. Ennenga had a grand slam on Saturday.”
This marks Monigold’s fourth season as the Loggers’ leadoff hitter.
“She’s a good one,” Thompson said.
“She’s fearless. It doesn’t matter who is pitching, she comes up to hit the ball.”
Monigold is hitting .538 and has homered twice.
Jayden Winslow, a sophomore, is batting .489 followed by Ennenga at .418.
Ennenga has three homers this spring and Winslow one. Pitcher Khalyn Hageness has two home runs and Sheila Gallagher, Sammee Bradeen and Emily Carvey all have one each.
“We don’t have one person who has a lot,” Thompson said.
“We are not a home-run team. We go up to hit singles, base hits. If they get extra-base hits, that’s a bonus.”
In the circle, it all rests with Hageness. The junior has tossed two no-hitters, struck out 159 batters, holds a 19-5 record and has an ERA of 2.10.
Libby’s last state championship was in 2008.
State Softball Tournament Pairings
Class AA
Multi-Sports Complex
Great Falls
Thursday
2 p.m. — Helena Capital vs. Billings Senior; Great Falls High vs. Missoula Sentinel
4 p.m. — Great Falls C.M. Russell vs. Missoula Big Sky; Helena High vs. Butte
Class A
Sidney
Thursday
11 a.m. — Glendive vs. Stevensville; Lewistown vs. Polson
1 p.m. — Columbia Falls vs. Havre; Butte Central vs. Sidney
3 p.m. — Frenchtown vs. Glendive/Stevensville winner; Hamilton vs. Lewistown/Polson winner
5 p.m. — Miles City vs. Columbia Falls/Havre winner; Belgrade vs. Butte Central/Sidney winner
Class B-C
Frenchtown Softball Complex
Thursday
2 p.m. — Glasgow vs. St. Ignatius; Florence vs. Shepherd
4 p.m. — Libby vs. Great Falls Central; Huntley Project vs. Missoula Loyola