At Polson last Tuesday, the visiting Lady Bulldogs showed measurable improvement by making defensive plays on the field, keeping the score within a single digit margin and extending the game through seven innings. Polson plated all the points they would need when they sent their entire lineup to the plate in the first inning, capped by a dual RBI double by Quinn Motichka. The Lady Pirates would add the icing to the cake in the fourth inning with the first home run of the season, a three bag tater by Hannah Fryberger. 

Polson 10, Whitefish 3

Whitefish 000 102 0 – 3 4 2

Polson 501 400 x – 10 7 0

Jordan Rae Sletten and Madison Davis. Haley Fyant, Camas Renault (4), Lauren Vergeront (5) and Ashley Benson, Kaylanna Desjarlais (5). W – Fyant (6-2). L – Sletten. Sv – Vergeront. Pitching specs: Fyant (3IP: 5K) Renault (2H), Vergeront (3IP: 5K,2H,1HB).

WHITEFISH – Sletten 1-2, Rebecca Catina 0-2, Michaela McDowell 1-3, McKenzie Carl 1-3, Davis 0-3, Baileigh Krause 1-3, Abby Reese 0-3, Abby Carson 0-3, Lily Stedman 0-2.

POLSON – Kaelyn Smith 1-2, Benson 0-2, Fyant 0-3, Hannah Potter 1-2, Lydia Dupuis 0-2, Laurel Bitterman 1-3, Hannah Fryberger 1-1, Quinn Motichka 2-3, Renault 0-3, Whitney Barr 0-0, Mikayla Croft 0-1, Breyland McColl 0-1, Desjarlais 0-0, Paige Noyes 1-1, Vergeront 0-0.

HR – McDowell; Fryberger. 2B – Carl; Motichka. RBIs – Carl, McDowell 2; Dupuis, Bitterman, Fryberger 4, Motichka 2. SacF – Fryberger. BB – Smith, Benson, Potter, Dupuis 2, Motichka, Barr, Desjarlais. HB – Sletten; Potter, Fryberger. SB – Smith 3, Benson, Bitterman 2, Fryberger, Motichka 2. DP – Wtop5th (L4-3).

At the Frenchtown Invitational on Friday, junior hurler Haley Fyant was pitching one of the best games of her prep career, battling toe-to-toe with BC ace Teresa Piazzola in a scoreless shutout with two outs in the 6th inning when she was hit squarely in the ribs by a line drive. The bang-bang ricochet dropped the Lady Pirate pitcher to her knees, but she retained enough presence of mind to retrieve the ball to attempt throwing out the runner heading toward first base. Fyant valiantly tried to shake off the injury and work through the pain, but the untimely turn of events would prompt her unwilling exit from the game. In the preceding inning, Fyant had also been banged up after making a defensive play at home plate tagging out a sliding BC runner attempting to break the scoreless tie.

Frosh hurler Lauren Vergeront came on in relief to get the third out of the inning and successfully retired the top of the Butte Central order in the 7th for a full inning of shutout relief. But thereafter the Lady Maroons succeeded in manufacturing a pair of runs in the extra period to take a narrow 2-0 lead, which Piazzola would make stand up by sending the Lady Pirates down in order 1-2-3 to maintain her pristine pitching record.

Coach Larry Smith commented that the contest “was one of those great, fun games – the way they should be played: low scoring, great defense, scratching and waiting for that key hit.” Although her ribs are tender to the touch, Fyant will be fine as nothing was broken nor anything vital injured.

In the early afternoon game, the Lady Pirates came out of the dugout with bats blazing by putting ten runs on the scoreboard against the strong hitting Bitterroot Broncs bombers from Hamilton. Thereafter, the Polson defense turned plays while Pirate hitters matched Bronc bats to maintain the margin. Kaelyn Smith went a perfect 4-4 that included a triple and a sacrifice fly, while Hannah Potter and Mikayla Croft turned in a trio of hits to lead the assault.

At Frenchtown in the Saturday evening game, Camas Renault and frosh hurler Lauren Vergeront combined forces to procure a victory for the Pirate treasure chest over former NWA now Western BC rival Libby. Polson took an early 6-1 lead, only to have Lady Logger lumber close the gap to within one with a four run fifth. Kaelyn Smith tripled in the top of the sixth, then stole home for some extra liability insurance against the prospect of a Logger uprising. Seven extra base doubles were stroked in the contest with Quinn Motichka turning in a pair as well as Lydia Dupuis along with Hannah Potter contributing one apiece.

Polson (12-3) travels to play defending State AA champion Kalispell Glacier on Thursday, then host NWA rival Frenchtown on Friday.

Butte Central 2, Polson 0 (8 inn)

Butte Central- 000 000 02 – 2 *11 1

Polson- 000 000 00 – 0 4 5

Teresa Piazzola and Corbyn Holm. Haley Fyant, Lauren Vergeront (6) and Ashley Benson. W – Piazzola (7-0). L – Vergeront (0-1).

Pitching specs: Fyant (5.67P: 6K,5H,2W,2PO), Vergeront (2.33IP: 6H,1PO); Piazzola (5K)

POLSON – Kaelyn Smith 0-4(FC), Benson 0-4, Fyant 0-2, Vergeront 0-1, Hannah Potter 1-3(E), Lydia Dupuis 1-3, Hannah Fryberger 0-3, Quinn Motichka 0-3, Camas Renault 1-3, Whitney Barr 0-0, Laurel Bitterman 1-3.

2B – Thatcher; Dupuis. RBIs – Michelotti, Criscuolo. BB – Thatcher 2. DP – Ptop1st (5-3-2), Ptop6th (g4u-3). Pickles – Ptopth (2-5-6-1), Ptop8th (2-5).

Asterisk (*) denotes stat variant(s): Hjelt 3H.

Polson 14, Hamilton 8

Polson 253 013 0 – 14 *17 1

Hamilton 113 102 0 – 8 *13 3

Camas Renault (3IP: 4K,8H,1W), Lauren Vergeront (4) and Ashley Benson. Jorden Taggart and Kelsie Meis. W – Renault (4-0). L – Taggart. Sv – Vergeront (4IP: 2K,5H,1W).

POLSON – Kaelyn Smith *4-4(Sac), Lydia Dupuis 1-5, Ashley Benson 0-5, Hannah Potter 3-5, Hannah Fryberger 2-5, Laurel Bitterman 2-4, Quinn Motichka 2-4, Camas Renault 1-3, Lauren Vergeront 1-1, Mikayla Croft 3-4.

3B – Smith; Della Silva, Ringer. 2B – Motichka, Croft; McGill. RBIs – Smith *2, Benson, Potter, Motichka, Vergeront, Croft 2; McGill 2, Della Silva 3, Nye, Ringer 2. SacF – Smith; Dillon. BB – Ringer, Doyle. SB – Smith 2, Dupuis, Bitterman 2; Dillon. Runs – Smith 3, Dupuis 2, Bitterman 3, Motichka 2, (cr)Paige Noyes 2, (cr)Whitney Barr. (Sa30Apr16gm1)

Asterisk (*) denotes stat variant(s): P19H/H12H, RBIs (Vergeront AB in lieu of Renault)

Polson 7, Libby 5

Polson 042 001 0 – 7 13 0

Libby 010 040 0 – 5 *9 0

Camas Renault (4IP: 2K,3H,2W,3PO), Lauren Vergeront (5) and Ashley Benson. Khalyn Hageness and Sammee Bradeen. W – Renault. L – Hageness. Sv – Vergeront (3IP: 2K,6H,1W,1PO).

POLSON – Kaelyn Smith 2-4, Lydia Dupuis 1-4, Benson 1-3, Hannah Potter 1-4, Hannah Fryberger 2-3, Kaylan Desjarlais 0-1, Laurel Bitterman 2-3, Paige Noyes 0-0, Quinn Motichka 2-3, Whitney Barr 0-1, Renault 1-3, Mikayla Croft 1-2.

3B – Smith. 2B – Dupuis, Potter, Motichka 2; Turner, Cannon, A.Walker. RBIs – *Dupuis, Fryberger, Motichka 2, Renault, Croft; Turner 2, Cannon 2, Lauer. SacF – Croft. BB – Benson, Noyes; Luscher 2, L.Walker. SB – Smith 3. DP – Pbtm6th(F4-6). (Sa30Apr16gm2)

Asterisk (*) denotes stat variant(s): Monigold 2H; Dupuis 2RBI (runner stole home during at-bat).

Ronan

At Plains this past Thursday, the visiting Maidens split their conference clash against the Trotters. In the first game, Ronan bats went to work early, plating all the run support they would need, then held off an orange and black charge by Plains. Hitting by both clubs was evenly matched, but Ronan proved to be more efficient about plating their base runners. Senior hurler Carston Rhine helped out her own cause by smacking a trio of hits that generated a trio of RBIs. Recently activated Shailee Courville went 2-3 in her first varsity outing and plated a trio of RBIs.

In the second game, Plains flipped the script of the first encounter by cobbling together an early lead, then held off a final inning assault by the Maidens to eek out a split. Senior Jordyn Clairmont hit a triple to bring the score within one, but was stuck on third when her teammate was struck out to end the game. Ronan was playing without twice all-conference Kaitlyn Sassaman in the lineup, a north of .500 hitter whose presence at the plate would likely have tightened the scoring disparity had her services been available.

Ronan 11, Plains 8

Plains 110 301 2 – 8 10 4

Ronan 321 500 0 – 11 11 6

Kassidy Kinzie and Kenzie Angle. Carston Rhine and Sadie Wirz. W – Rhine (7-1). L – Kinzie.

RONAN – Kiana Brown 1-4, Gabby Wirz 2-4, Carston Rhine 3-4, Amanda Morency 1-4, Sadie Wirz 0-3, Jordyn Clairmont 2-4, Shailee Courville 2-3, Veyanna Webster 0-3, Courtnee Clairmont 0-3.

HR – Kinzie. 2B – Courville. RBIs – Whitcomb, Kinzie 2; Rhine 3, Morency, J. Clairmont, Courville 3.

Plains 7, Ronan 6

Ronan 100 000 5 – 6 7 5

Plains 202 300 0 – 7 10 1

Gabby Wirz, Carston Rhine (3) and Sadie Wirz. Jessica Thompson and Natalee Deschamps. W – Thompson. L – G.Wirz (2-1).

RONAN – Kiana Brown 1-3, Gabby Wirz 0-2, Veyanna Webster 1-2, Carston Rhine 0-4, Amanda Morency 1-4, Sadie Wirz 1-2, Jordyn Clairmont 1-3, Shaylee Courville 1-2, Taylor Tobol 0-2, Jazmine Christiansen 0-2, Courtnee Clairmont 1-3.

HR – Thompson. 2B – Brown, Clairmont; Coe. RBIs – Brown, Webster, Morency, Clairmont 2; Kinzie, Thompson 3.

At the Frenchtown Softball Invitational this past weekend, the Maidens had little trouble with the BC divisional rival Lady Loggers as they ten run ruled Libby much like they did the week prior at home. The Maidens smacked a dozen hits, half of them for extra bases that included a triple along with a pair of doubles by senior shortstop Jordyn Clairmont. Gabby Wirz, Amanda Morency and Carston Rhine also hit doubles.

But Ronan had an allergic reaction when they ran into a hive of some B’s of a Class A variety. The Maidens got stung by some Bitterroot Yellowjackets from Stevensville, bitten by Blue Devils from Corvallis as well as marooned by some Lady Maroons from Butte. These Class A opponents outhit the Maidens by better than a 2:1 margin, the mirror opposite from the outcome last season when then healthy Ronan swept their opponents when the Maidens held the upper end of a similar ratio differential. This time around, the Maidens were saddled with a depleted lineup on account of an accumulation of injuries and sickness that include ligament strains, sprained ankles and bruised extremities. Some starters were sidelined while others were not their usual selves.

While overall roster strength may have been shackled, the contests themselves had some bright spots. The Maidens managed to score multiple times in two of the games and smacked a cumulative sum of a baker’s dozen hits for extra bases that included a home run and a pair of triples.

Although the turn of events was unfortunate, the situation provided the Ronan coaching staff with an opportunity to develop bench depth by giving less seasoned players exposure to higher caliber competition. One player who shined was Shailee Courville, who hit a combined 7-14 over the past half dozen games that included a pair of doubles and four RBIs.

FRENCHTOWN INVITATIONAL

Stevensville 5, Ronan 1

Stevi 002 020 1 – 5 8 1

Ronan 000 100 0 – 1 3 1

Sarah Morrison and Dani Trangmoe. Carston Rhine (8K,3W) and Sadie Wirz. W – Morrison. L – Rhine (7-2).

RONAN – Kiana Brown 0-3, Gabby Wirz 0-2, Rhine 1-3, Amanda Morency 0-2, S. Wirz 0-2, Jordyn Clairmont 2-3, Shailee Courville 0-2, Jasmine Christensen 0-3, Courtnee Clairmont 0-3(FC).

3B – J. Clairmont. 2B – Hambrick. RBIs – Kampka 2, Lendman. Sac – J.Clairmont. BB – Newman 3; G.Wirz, Morency, S.Wirz, Courville. SB – Rhine, J.Clairmont, S.Wirz, C.Clairmont.

Ronan 13, Libby 3

Ronan 403 410 1 – 13 12 1

Libby 001 020 0 – 3 4 4

Carston Rhine (6K,1W,3PO) and Sadie Wirz. Khalyn Hageness, Lindsey Walker (4) and Sammee Bradeen. W – Rhine (8-2). L – Hageness.

RONAN – Kiana Brown 0-5, Gabby Wirz 2-4, Carston Rhine 1-5, Amanda Morency 1-2, Sadie Wirz 2-3, Jordyn Clairmont 3-4, Courtnee Clairmont 1-3, Shailee Courville 2-4, Taylor Tobol 0-3.

3B – J. Clairmont. 2B – G. Wirz, Rhine, Morency, J. Clairmont 2; *, Luscher, L.Walker. RBIs – G. Wirz, Morency 2, J. Clairmont *3, C. Clairmont, Courville; Monigold, Hageness, L.Walker. SacB – Brown 2, Hageness. BB – Morency, S.Wirz, C.Clairmont, Tobol; Hageness. HB – Morency. SB – G.Wirz 3, Morency, S.Wirz, J.Clairmont 2, C.Clairmont 2, Tobol 2.

Corvallis 11, Ronan 1

Corvallis 254 0 – 11 8 1

Ronan 001 0 – 1 3 3

Taia Tully and Kambrey Powell. Gabby Wirz (4K,4W) and Sadie Wirz. W – Tully. L – G.Wirz.

RONAN – K Brown 0-3, G. Wirz 0-1, Carston Rhine 1-2, Amanda Morency 0-3, S. Wirz 0-3, Jordyn Claimmont 1-1, Courtnee Clarimont 0-1, Shailee Courville 1-1, Kaitlyn Sassaman 0-2.

3B – H.Brown. 2B – Capko; C.Clairmont. RBIs – Powell, Tully 2, Capko *2, H.Brown; Courville. BB – G.Wirz 3, Rhine, Hakes, C.Clairmont. SB – Hakes.

Butte Central 17, Ronan 5

Butte Central 400 733 – 17 21 2

Ronan 023 000 – 5 7 4

McKenzie Gallagher, Kloie Thatcher (3) and Corbyn Holm. Carston Rhine and Sadie Wirz. W – Thatcher (1-0). L – Rhine.

BUTTE CENTRAL — Kloie Thatcher 4-5, Shawnee Hjelt 3-5, Mollie Peoples 2-5, Holm 3-5, Teresa Piazzola 1-4, Megan Michelotti 4-5, Kassidy Criscuolo 2-4, Gallagher 0-4, Verona Chen Lin 2-4.

RONAN — Kaitlyn Sassaman 1-3, Gabby Wirz 0-2, Rhine 1-3, Amanda Morency 0-3, S.Wirz 2-3, Kiana Brown 2-3, Courtnee Clairmont 0-3, Shailee Courville 1-2, Taylor Tobol 0-2.

HR – Michelotti; Brown. 2B – Thatcher 2, Criscuolo 2, Hjelt 2; Rhine, S.Wirz, Brown, Courville. RBIs – Holm 3, Piazzola, Michelotti 2, Chrisuolo 2; Brown, Rhine. BB – Piazzola; G.Wirz.

On Monday, the Maidens traveled to Drummond, where they easily dispatched the host Lady Trojans. Kaitlyn Sassaman and Amanda Morency each had three hits with Morency stroking a triple and raking in a quartet of RBIs.

Ronan 16, Drummond 1

Ronan 320 (11) – 16 12 0

Drummond 001 0 – 1 2 6

Carston Rhine (4K) and Sadie Wirz. Allie Parke and Kristen Piippo. W - Rhine. L - Parke.

RONAN - Kaitlyn Sassaman 3-4, Gabby Wirz 2-3, Rhine 1-4, Amanda Morency 3-4, S. Wirz 0-2, Kiana Brown 1-4, Courtnee Clairmont 1-3, Kaitlyn Santos 0-2, Shailee Courville 1-2.

3B - Morency, Adler. RBIs - Morency 4, Clairmont 2; Batson.

MAC

The Mssion-Arlee-Charlo softball team has been quietly sitting toward the top of the standing of the Western BC standings. Last Tuesday, they came up with a important win against Anaconda in their first game of a doubleheader. Ran’Dee Charlo had a homerun and six RBIs in that game, and Morgan Malatare added two RBIs, as did Madison Savage. The second game was a different story, as the Copperheads shut out MAC 16-0 and held them to only two hits.

M-A-C 13, Anaconda 8 (gm1)

Mission 032 017 0 – 13 14 3

Anaconda 011 500 1 – 8 6 3

Ran’Dee Charlo and Kenzie Couture. Andi Mavrinac, Ashley Gates (7) and Hannah Schaefer. W – Charlo (5-2). L – Marvrinac.

MISSION-ARLEE-CHARLO – Mikaylan Roylance 2-5, Jordyn Eichert 1-4, Couture 1-4, Morgan Malatare 3-4, Jaycee Andersen 0-4, Charlo 3-4, Haley Carroll 1-4, Madison Savage 2-4, Vanessa Kent 0-2, Frankie Smith 1-2.

HR – Charlo; Forsberg. 3B – Roylance; Flores. 2B – Savage, Malatare, Eichert; Mavrinac, Cortright, Flores. RBIs – Couture, Malatare 2, Andersen, Charlo 6, Savage 2; Schaefer, Cortright, Forsberg, Mavrinac.

Anaconda 16, M-A-C 0 (gm2)

Anaconda 150 217 – 16 16 0

Mission 000 000 – 0 2 4

Michaela Cortright and Hannah Schaefer. Ran’Dee Charlo, Jaycee Andersen (2) and Kenzie Couture. W – Cortright, L – Charlo (5-3).

MISSION-ARLEE-CHARLO – Mikalyn Roylance 0-3, Jordyn Eichert 0-3, Kenzie Couture 0-2, Morgan Malatare 2-2, Jaycee Andersen 0-2, Ran’Dee Charlo 0-3, Haley Carroll 0-2, Madison Savage 0-1, Vanessa Kent 0-1.

HR – Schaefer. 2B – Chapman, Cortright. RBIs – Chapman 3, Schaefer 3, Cortright 2, Mavrinac 2, Forsberg, Johnson, Flores.

MAC also traveled to the Frenchtown tournament, where they split on two games. Against Dillon on Friday, senior Mikaylan Roylance hit her first career home run, earning a celebration at home plate and a new ball. Roylance brought in two runs during the game, as did Jaycee Andersen, Kenzie Couture, and Morgan Malatare. Jordan Eichert, Madison Savage, and Ashley Tanner also brought in one run each.

On Saturday, five errors hurt the Bulldogs, who lost to Corvallis 3-11. Although they had 14 hits, Dillon’s Taia Tully had two home runs that brought in six runners. For Mission, Kenzie Couture hit a home run and had two RBIs.

M-A-C 11, Dillon 3

Dillon 001 020 0 – 3 5 0

Mission 211 025 x – 11 14 0

Bailey Berriochoa and Erica Rude. Jaycee Andersen, Ran’Dee Charlo (4) and Kenzie Couture. W – *Andersen (5-0). L – Berriochoa. Sv – Charlo.

MISSION-ARLEE-CHARLO – Mikaylan Roylance 2-4, Jordyn Eichert 2-2, Kenzie Couture 1-3, Morgan Malatare 4-4, Jaycee Andersen 1-3, Ran’Dee Charlo 1-3, Haley Carroll 0-2, Haley Crawford 1-2, Madison Savage 1-3, Vanessa Kent 0-1, Alyssa Sorrell 0-1, Ashley Tanner 1-1.

HR – Malatare, Roylance. 3B – Roylance. 2B – Savage. RBIs – Rude 2, Pittman; Roylance 2, Eichert, Couture 2, Malatare 2, Anderson 2, Savage, Tanner.

Corvallis 10, M-A-C 6

Corvallis 004 402 0 – 10 11 4

Mission 330 000 0 – 6 *8 5

Kayla Fields and Taia Tully. Ran’Dee Charlo and Kenzie Couture. W – Fields. L – Charlo (5-4).

MISSION-ARLEE-CHARLO – Roylance *1-3, Jordyn Eichert 1-3, Kenzie Couture 2-4, Morgan Malatare *2-3, Jaycee Andersen *1-4, Charlo 0-4, Haley Carroll 0-3, Madison Savage 0-3, Vanessa Kent 1-3, *Frankie Smith 0-1, *Haley Crawford 0-1, *Ashley Tanner 0-1, *Alyssa Sorrell 0-1.

HR – Tully 2; Couture. 2B – Turner. RBIs – Turner, Brown, Tully 6; Couture 2.

Asterisk (*) denotes stat variant(s) that deviate from those reported to media: MAC4H (Roylance 0H, Malatare 1H, Andersen 0H), left out (Smith, Crawford, Tanner, Sorrell).