COLUMBIA FALLS — Polson survived a seventh-inning rally to beat Columbia Falls 9-6 and clinch the Northwestern A softball title Tuesday.

Columbia Falls (9-7 overall, 3-3 Northwestern A) scored five runs in the bottom of the seventh and brought the tying runner to the plate when Polson pitcher Shalaina Duford struck out Catie King on an inside fastball to end the threat.

The conference title is Polson’s third in the last four years, and while the Pirates won last year’s Class A state tournament as the third seed from Northwestern A, Duford said it’s nice knowing they’ll have a better seed this time around.

“I’m just really proud of our girls for working so hard for it,” she said. “But I know C-Falls and Frenchtown are going to be coming to the state tournament. We have the toughest conference in the state, no doubt. Even if we did win the conference, it doesn’t mean the challenges are over.”

Duford allowed two earned runs on seven hits and one walk. She struck out eight and helped her cause at the plate with 2-RBI single in the fifth inning that gave Polson (14-1, 6-0) a 2-1 lead.

Columbia Falls tallied just three hits the first six innings as Duford worked both sides of the plate with her fastball and induced multiple awkward-looking swings with her changeup.

“I was throwing my changeup a lot,” Duford said. “It was really working. They were just not tracking it well and then I was hitting outside a lot. Honestly I was just all over the place and I just kept them guessing.”

A walk and a fielding error with one out sparked Columbia Falls’ last-ditch rally. Amanda Morrison and Tiffany Hummer followed with RBI hits before Duford struck out Carlee Brown for the second out. Ashley Trueblood made the score 9-5 with an RBI-double off the left-center field fence, and scored on an overthrow by shortstop Jessica Bagnell that allowed Kathrin Jetty to reach base. A single by Ciarra Holm brought the tying run to the plate, but Duford struck out King to end the game.

“When that first girl got on we kind of tensed up and that caused us to make errors,” Duford said. “After that, it was all mental from there. The girls gathered themselves eventually and we got the out.”

Polson finished with five errors, but its offense tallied 11 hits — including three doubles — to make up for its defensive miscues.

“Any time there seems to be a rally against us, it always starts with an error,” Polson coach Larry Smith said. “It’s always been that way. It never fails. We just have to clean up that defense a little better.

“What’s really carried us has been our hitting. We’ve made some mistakes against good teams, but our bats have just been awesome.”

Columbia Falls pitcher Ashley Trueblood kept Polson guessing with a variety of off-speed pitches the first four innings, but Polson’s offense perked up the third time through the order. Heidi Rausch led off the sixth inning with a walk and Martina Marquardt followed with a hard single to center field. Pinch hitter Kaelen Wall delivered a two-run double over the center fielder’s head to put Polson ahead 4-1. Wall subbed for Jordyn Evertz, who struck out in both of her plate appearances.

“I knew she could hit the ball,” Smith said of Wall. “The gal we brought her in for was struggling, so that worked out great for us.”

Wall singled and scored in a four-run seventh inning. Marquardt, Bagnell, Hannah Potter and Jaiden Toth also finished with two hits.

Marquardt said patience helped Polson’s hitters figure out Trueblood after the slow start.

“We were just waiting on the ball, staying back and being ready to hit,” she said.

Trueblood had nine strikeouts in the losing effort. Hummer and Holm led Columbia Falls with two hits apiece.

“I was proud of them for sticking with it,” Columbia Falls coach Dave Kehr said. “They knew they could score some runs and they did. They just hung in there. It’s great for the kids to do that.

“They should have some confidence going into the Butte Tournament because they hit the ball pretty well overall.”

Smith said he admired Columbia Falls for storming back from an eight-run deficit to bring the tying run to the plate.

“They’re a great bunch of gals,” he said. “They’ve got that same kind of spunk we’ve got ... I thought they did a great job against us because most teams would’ve given up when we jump on them like that.”

Both teams will be at the Butte Invitational Tournament Friday and Saturday.

Polson 000 023 4 — 9 11 5

C. Falls 001 000 5 — 6 7 1

Shalaina Duford and Jaylin Kenney. Ashley Trueblood and Courney Murray. W - Duford. L - Trueblood.

POLSON - Kenney 0-3, Duford 1-4, Jessica Bagnell 2-4, Heidi Rausch 0-3, Martina Marquardt 2-3, Jordyn Evertz 0-2, Kaelen Wall 2-2, Hannah Potter 2-3, Sarah Rausch 0-3, Jaiden Toth 2-4.

COLUMBIA FALLS - Tiffany Hummer 2-4, Carlee Brown 0-4, Trueblood 1-4, Kathrin Jetty 0-4, Ciarra Holm 2-4, Catie King 0-4, Winter Kemppainen 0-1, Murray 0-3, Alex Pederson 1-2, Amanda Morrison 1-1.

2B - Marquardt, Potter, Wall; Holm, Hummer, Trueblood. RBI - Wall 3, Duford 2, Toth 2, Potter, S. Rausch; Hummer 2, Trueblood, Morrison.