Sentinel slips away from Glacier

Softball, like so many sports, can often be a game of inches.

Glacier learned that the hard way on Thursday afternoon versus Missoula Sentinel.

Holding a 7-1 lead in the fourth inning, Glacier was oh-so-close to tight-roping out of a bases-loaded jam with little damage done. But a liner off the bat of Sentinel’s Brooklyn Weisgram landed just out of the reach of a diving Wolfpack outfielder and skipped nearly to the fence.

Instead of being out of the inning with a six-run lead still intact, all three runners scored, and the Spartans added two more runs later in the fourth inning to spark a big comeback en route to a 12-8 victory at Glacier High.

The Wolfpack (6-5, 4-4 Western AA) defeated Missoula Big Sky 13-3 in five innings in the opening half of the doubleheader. The split moved Glacier into fourth place in the Western AA conference.

“It’s their third time through the lineup, and anytime you get third time through the lineup, you’re going to start hitting the ball better,” Glacier coach Abby Connolly said of Sentinel’s fourth-inning rally in Game 2. “Not to take anything away from them, because they’re really good hitters. We had a couple of key errors (in the inning) that compounded.”

The rocky top of the fourth disrupted what was, up to that point, close to a perfect start for Glacier.

The Wolfpack jumped out to a 3-0 lead, thanks in part to Allee Meyer’s two-run double in the first inning. They extended the lead to 7-0 with four runs in the bottom of the third.

Alivia Atlee and Maddie Johnson both ripped RBI singles, and Hallie Nikunen poured it on with a two-run base hit later in the frame.

“They were being patient,” Connolly said. “They were finding balls they could hit, and they were driving them.”

The tide turned in the fourth, however, and Glacier was never able to fully regain momentum.

The Wolfpack did add another run in the bottom of the fourth to extend their lead to 8-6, but Sentinel responded time and again with two runs in the fifth, three in the sixth and one in the seventh.

“Our youth maybe showed a little bit at the end of that game,” Connolly said. “Sentinel has eight seniors. We start two seniors.

“We keep improving every game, which is awesome.”

Meyer, Atlee, Johnson and Nikunen produced all of Glacier’s offense with two RBIs apiece in the nightcap.

The back end of the doubleheader sullied the mood after a Glacier romp in the opener.

Kynzie Mohl set the tone from the Wolfpack’s first at-bat, ripping her third leadoff home run in as many games.

Mohl’s blast jump-started an eight-run first inning, which also included a two-run single by Meg Hornby. Freshman Halle Schroeder added a two-run single in Glacier’s five-run second inning.

“We’re really good hitters,” Connolly said. “Both games, we came out and hit the ball really well.”

Glacier also was dazzling in the circle, as Sage Vanterpool and Emma Anderson combined to fire five innings of two-hit ball.

Vanterpool, who started, allowed no hits over her two innings of work.

“I’m pleased with all my pitchers’ performance,” Connolly said. “I think they did a really good job. They’re young. They’re sophomores and freshmen.”

Glacier will look to make up more ground in the Western AA conference on Saturday when it travels to Helena.

The Wolfpack face Helena High at noon and Helena Capital at 2 p.m.

Big Sky 012 00 — 3 2 0

Glacier 850 0x — 13 10 2

WP — Sage Vanterpool. LP — Logan Rauk.

BIG SKY — Brylee Meisinger 0-3, Logan Rauk 0-3, Shaina Allen 0-2, Alyssa Gentri 1-2, Kayla Johnson 0-1, Darien O’Hern 0-2, Lizzie Clawson 0-2, Angelina Zavarelli 0-2, Grasey Szwedkowicz 0-2.

GLACIER — Kynzie Mohl 3-4, Addie Labrum 1-1, Halle Schroeder 1-1, Megan Eckert 0-1, Sophie Smith 1-2, Olivia Thomas 0-1, Alivia Atlee 0-2, Emma Ritter 0-1, Allee Meyer 0-1, Maddie Johnson 2-3, Sage Vanterpool 0-0, Emma Anderson 0-1, Hallie Nikunen 1-2, Meg Hornby 1-2.

2B — Mohl. HR — Mohl. RBI — Allen, Gentri. Mohl 2, Labrum, Schroeder 2, Smith, Vanterpool, Nikunen, Hornby 3.

Sentinel 000 623 1 — 12 14 2

Glacier 304 100 0 — 8 10 4

WP — Grace Hardy. LP — Sage Vanterpool.

SENTINEL — Taylor Holmes 2-5, Shelby Dunwell 1-4, Brooklyn Weisgram 3-5, Grace Hardy 0-3, Amber Hickethier 2-4, Ashlin Hiller 1-1, Mariel Warren 1-5, Taylor Brinkman 3-4, Taylor Leistiko 0-1, Jalen Cooper 0-4, Kayla Daily 2-4.

GLACIER — Kynzie Mohl 0-4, Addie Labrum 1-1, Sophie Smith 2-4, Alivia Atlee 2-3, Allee Meyer 2-4, Maddie Johnson 2-4, Sage Vanterpool 0-3, Hallie Nikunen 1-4, Meg Hornby 0-3.

2B — Weisgram 2, Hickethier, Brinkman. Meyer. RBI — Holmes, Dunwell, Weisgram 4, Hickethier 2, Warren, Brinkman 2, Daily. Atlee 2, Meyer 2, Johnson 2, Nikunen 2.