Polson rallies, advances
FRENCHTOWN — Coming into the Class A state softball tournament, veteran Polson coach Larry Smith had one concern about his team having a first-round bye.
“When you get a bye, you’re playing a team that’s already won a game, and they’ve got those first-game jitters out of the way,” he said.
“You have to go through that yet for your first game. This year, I think our kids are going to be able to handle that pretty well.”
Polson handled it very well, shaking the jitters and battling back from a 7-0 deficit to trip Frenchtown 10-7.
The win advances the Pirates (19-4) to the next round versus Belgrade, a 19-0 winner over Sidney, today at 1 p.m.
Libby (14-9) managed a split on opening day, blanking Hardin 9-0 before falling to Hamilton 10-4.
Columbia Falls (13-9) was edged by Sidney 6-5.
Libby and Columbia Falls have loser-out games today at 11 a.m.
The tournament runs through Saturday.
Box scores from Thursday’s games were not available.
Class A State Softball
Thursday
At Frenchtown
First Round
Frenchtown 5, Fergus 0
Sidney 6, Columbia Falls 5
Libby 9, Hardin 0
Butte Central 5, Havre 3
Second Round
Polson 10, Frenchtown 7
Belgrade 19, Sidney 0
Hamilton 10, Libby 4
Miles City 8, Butte Central 6
Today
Loser Out
9 a.m. — Frenchtown vs. Hardin
9 a.m. — Sidney vs. Havre
11 a.m. — Libby vs. Lewistown
11 a.m. — Butte Central vs. Columbia Falls
Winners’ Bracket
1 p.m. — Polson vs. Belgrade
1 p.m. — Hamilton vs. Miles City
Class AA
Billings Senior 5, Glacier 1
HELENA — Glacier managed to score first, but Billings Senior did all of the scoring after that for a first-round victory at the Class AA state softball tournament at Batch Fields.
Senior tied the game at 1-all with a run in the bottom of the second and put together back-to-back 2-run innings in the fourth and fifth to complete the scoring.
Senior pitcher Ellie Ostermiller held Glacier to two hits — singles by Kynzie Mohl and Addie Labrum.
Senior had nine hits.
Glacier (13-8 overall) drops into loser-out action today at noon versus Great Falls C.M. Russell. Senior moves on to face Helena Capital today at 10 a.m.
The tournament ends Saturday.
Thursday
At Batch Fields
First Round
Great Falls 6, Helena 2
Helena 100 000 1 — 2 3 1
Great Falls 300 201 x — 6 7 0
WP -- Erin Hock er. LP – Tyleigh Burchard
Hits -- Great Falls: Conway 3 (2B), Porter 2, Sunchild 1 (HR), Schmitz 1 Helena: Anderson 1,English 1 (HR), Pickens 1. RBIs – Great Falls: Sunchild 3, Conway 1, Ray 1.
Missoula Sentinel 9, Butte 1
Butte 000 100 0 — 1 5 x
Sentinel 051 210 x — 9 10 x
WP - Amber Hickethier, LP - Kaidy McClafferty
Hits - Sentinel: McKenzie Wright 2 (2B), Grace Hardy 2, Marial Warren, Hickethier, Kayla Daily, Shelby Dunwell, Brooklyn Weisgram, Jalen Cooper. Butte: McClafferty (HR), B Ossello, J Maroney, Emma Cox, Kennedy Ferriter. RBIs: Wright 2, Daily 2, Warren, Hickethier, Dunwell, McClafferty
Billings Senior 5, Glacier 1
Glacier 100 000 0 — 1 2 4
Senior 010 220 x — 5 9 1
WP – Ellie Ostermiller. LP – Kynzie Mohl.
Hits – Senior: Kilgore 2, Keller 1, Venner 1 (2B), Ostermiller 1, Gordon 1, Brown 1, McCarthy 1, Zent 1. Glacier: Mohl 1, Labrum 1. RBIs – Senior: Ostermiller 2, Zent 1, Venner 1.
Capital High 10, C.M. Russell 7
CM Russell 002 002 3 — 7 8 x
Capital 001 531 x — 10 8 x
W - Shelby Martin, L - Madi Moore
Hitting - Capital: April Davis 2, Taylor Mathews, Martin, Kaedin Rosling, Kacie Gross, Sarah Bury, Madi Davis. CMR: JJ Slater (HR), Kylie Allen, Teagan Taylor, Kayci Edwards, Megan Toplovich, Payton Peterson. RBIs: Slater 3, Davis 3, Martin 2, Rehm 2, Taylor 2, Mathews, Edwards, Crabtree.
Today’s Schedule
Loser Out
Noon — Helena vs. Butte
Noon — Great Falls C.M. Russell vs. Glacier
Winners Bracket
10 a.m. — Great Falls High vs. Missoula Sentinel
10 a.m. — Helena Capital vs. Billings Senior
Class B-C
Eureka 5,
Great Falls Central 4
BELGRADE —Rylee Morgan homered and Erynn Thier tripled and singled to help Eureka edge Great Falls Central 5-4 on Thursday at the Class B-C state softball tournament.
Eureka held a 4-0 lead after three innings and led 5-2 after six. Central scored twice in the top of the seventh to make it close.
Thursday
At Belgrade Softball Complex
Florence 13, Cut Bank 3
Cut Bank 201 00 — 3 4 7
Florence 023 53 — 13 10 1
WP -- Hoffman. LP -- Jazmine Spotted Bear.
Hits -- Cut Bank: Sarah McDonough 2, Samantha Burke 2. Florence: Danielle Zahn 3 (3 2B), Shannon Byrne 2, Natalie Dulac 2, Danara Greer 2 (2B), Emily Kinnaman (2B), Brooklyn Little. RBIs -- Burke 2, Halley Wahl. Florence: Kinnaman 2, Zahn 2.
Huntley Project 10, Plains-Hot Springs 7
Plains-Hot Springs 610 000 0 — 7 9 2
Huntley Project 404 110 x — 10 12 2
WP -- Hultgren. LP -- Thompson.
Hits -- Plains: Sydney Jackson 2, MacKenzie Elliott, Kassidy Kinzie, Jessica Thompson (HR), Sage Jackson (2B), Dakota Butcher (HR), Kenzie Angle 2 (2B). Huntley Project: Mollee Krum 3, Ashley Wengler 2 (2B), Amanda Cranford 2 (2B), Sara Sumner, Addy Hultgren (2B), Madison Rohrer, Kasey Jones, Tasia Hunter. RBIs -- Plains: Thompson 3, Butcher 3. Huntley Project: Cranford 3, Krum 2, Hunter, Wengler.
Eureka 5, Great Falls Central 4
G.F. Central 000 011 2 — 4 9 0
Eureka 004 001 x — 5 9 1
WP -- Avory Escobar. LP -- Ashley Cantley.
Hits -- Great Falls Central: Sara Tarum 2 (2B), Kate McEwen 2 (2B), Ashley Cantley 2 (2B), Sydney Hill (2B), Breanna Cook, Gracie Williams (2B). Eureka: Erynn Thier 2 (3B), Avory Escobar 2, Rylee Morgan (HR), Michael Shea, Bailey Bishop, Ayiana Twigg, Katie Schmidt. RBIs -- Great Falls Central: Tarum, Williams, McEwen, Cantley. Eureka: Morgan 4.
Missoula Loyola 8, Shepherd 7
Loyola 022 022 0 — 8 9 1
Shepherd 000 050 2 — 7 7 5
WP Kayla Hickethier. LP -- Jacey Pointer.
Hits -- Missoula Loyola: Natalie Goodman 2 (2B), Morgan Nicholson 2, Ivvy Solomon 2, Molly McHugh, Carly Tipp, Charla Goodman. Shepherd: Aubrie Garza 2, Pointer (2B), Lexi Dietz, Mariah Mang, Kylie Lemburg, Haley Anderson (2B). RBIs -- Missoula Loyola: Solomon 2, Tipp 2, McHugh, Nicholson, N. Goodman. Shepherd: Pointer 2, Garza.
Today’ Schedule
Winners’ Bracket
10 a.m. — Florence-Carlton vs. Huntley Project
10 a.m. — Eureka vs. Missoula Loyola
Loser Out
Noon — Cut Bank vs. Plains/Hot Springs
Noon — Great Falls Central vs. Shepherd