Things were looking good early, but the Lady Bulldogs couldn't keep up with the Wildkats and fell 8-16 in a chilly Western A softball meeting on Tuesday evening.

After starting off the second inning with a double by Adele FauntLeRoy, Whitefish tied the game at 5-all. Columbia Falls came out swinging after that, however, and ran away with the victory.

The loss drops the Lady 'Dogs to 0-2 on the season. Whitefish still has some things they need to work on, but head coach Alan Compton is pleased with what he saw.

"The score really didn't show how the game truly went," he said. "The girls are improving every game, they are really starting to believe in themselves. We had four base-running errors that probably hurt us more than anything, because each one would have scored. Some of that is my fault, because we just haven't had time to work on it yet."

The Lady 'Dogs had 11 hits in the game. Hailey Mortensen went 3-for-4 with three RBIs. FauntLeRoy went 1-for-2, while Madison Tveidt went 3-for-4. Carolyn Sharpe was on the mound for Whitefish, and she also had a double at bat.

Compton said FauntLe Roy had her best defensive game yet in the outfield. Her outstanding play in the back gives the infield girls more confidence to dive after line drives if they know they have someone with range like FauntLeRoy roaming in the outfield to back them up.

"I just can't say enough good things about the girls," Compton said. "Everyone was positive after the game. They're understanding that they can play and they can win. If they keep playing the way they are, the wins will come. They're starting to understand what it means to be a team. That's a huge deal, especially to start figuring it out this early in the season."

The Lady 'Dogs have a game in Browning on Friday.

C Falls 502 070 2 - 16 15 6

Whitefish 140 300 0 - 8 10 2

T. Cowan and Amber James; Carolyn Sharpe and Hailey Mortensen. W — Cowan. L — Sharpe, 0-2.

WHITEFISH — Adele FauntLeRoy 1-2, Sharpe 1-3, Heather Bailey 0-5, Mortensen 3-4, Kaitlyn Wehrli 1-3, Kristi Whisler 0-4, Shannon Holmes 0-4, Madison Tveidt 3-4, Nicole Schilling 1-3.

2B—Yeager, Stinger (3), Skiles, S. Rowe; FauntLeRoy, Sharpe, Mortensen, Schilling; RBIs—James, Stinger (3), Skiles (2), S. Rowe (2), Smith (2); Mortensen (3), Schilling.