The Polson Lady Pirates capped of a remarkable week in which they went 4-0 with a 9-2 victory against Libby on Tuesday.

They took a 4-0 lead after the third, and cruised to victory by playing small ball and good defense.

“It was basically our bunters and slappers getting it done,” noted head coach Larry Smith. “Our defense rose to the occasion.”

Dylen Zetterberg pitched six innings and Sarah finished off in the seventh to preserve the victory.

Over the weekend, Polson faced their first real test, and they passed, although not without some last-second heroics.

They won not one but two close games Saturday, coming from behind to beat Hamilton before winning in their last at-bat against Corvallis later that day — the first real tests they’ve had all year.

“In the west,” noted Smith. “I think we’ve shown our dominance.”

But they had to fight for the wins. Down 2-0 against Hamilton early on, the Lady Pirates scraped together bunt base hits, steals and walks to come from behind with a 5-3 win.

Lela Clairmont-Perez led things off in the third with a hit, and ended up on third after a nice bunt by Kyla McDonald. She later scored on a passed ball to get Polson on the board, before Lindsay Rafter scooted to second on a bunt base hit, when the Hamilon infield wasn’t paying attention.

Dylen Zetterberg and Jaelin Vandeberg were both hit by pitches, and Rafter and Zetterberg both scooted home on wild pitches.

NaTesha Arlint got a lead off bunt, and eventually scored on a passed ball to make it 4-2, and a single by Brittany Jones scored Amanda James in the fifth to make it 5-2.

While Hamilton suffered some fielding errors, the Lady Pirates had some great plays on defense. In the top of the third, McDonald almost converted a double play after tagging out a runner, and Jones gunned down a runner trying to steal third to end the inning.

In the top of the fourth, the team came oh-so-close to converting a rare 1-6-3 double play on a comebacker fielded by Zetterberg. She had two strikeouts in the sixth and a stand-up double in the bottom of the inning to show Hamilton she could do all facets of the game.

Zetterberg, Rafter and Jones each had RBIs to lead the team,

Later in the day, the game came down to the last at-bat against Corvallis, when Vandeberg drove in the game-winning run in the bottom of the seventh to give the team a 4-3 win. She and Rafter were both 3-for-4 at the plate with an RBI each, and Vandeberg also had a double.

Zetterberg struck out six to improve to 6-0 on the year, while her teammates played error-free ball behind her. Zetterberg only gave up five hits, as well.

Last Thursday, against Columbia Falls, the team dominated with an 11-2 win, led by Amanda James’ 3-for-4 effort at the plate, with four RBI’s. Kendra Woldstad had a double and a triple and drove in two runs.

The team hosts Havre on Saturday, with an 11 a.m. JV game and the varsity to follow.

“Havre and Whitefish have been getting beat up pretty bad,” noted Smith.

Corvallis 020 001 0- 3 5 3

Polson 200 010 1- 4 13 0

POLSON- Kyla McDonald 1-4, Zetterburg 1-3, Lindsey Rafter 3-4, Jaelin Vanderberg 3-4, Amanda James 1-3, Kendra Woldstad 1-3, Brittany Jones 1-3, Natesha Arlint 0-3, Stacy Benson 0-1, Maggie Gordon 0-2

Hamilton 020 001 0- 7 2 2

Polson 003 110 x- 5 6 3

POLSON- Kyla McDonald 0-3, Zetterburg 2-3, Lindsey Rafter 1-4, Jaelin Vanderberg 0-2, Amanda James 1-4, Kendra Woldstad 0-1, Brittany Jones 1-3, Natesha Arlint 1-2, Lela Clairmount-Perez 1-2