In the Bitterroot last Saturday, the visiting Maidens may not have had to contend with any pesky buzz-bombing insects on account of cooler than usual spring temperatures, but they nevertheless felt the sting of another type of Yellowjacket in the form of the Stevensville softball squad. Trailing by a single run after the first frame, the Yellowjackets plated four in the bottom of the second to take a 5-0 lead.

In the top half of the third, leadoff batter Madison Clairmont put the Maidens on the scoreboard when she got hold of a down the pike, first-pitch that drifted within her wheelhouse and promptly parked it on the other side of the left of center fence that just missed dimple denting the scoreboard. “She’s been working really hard at practice, working on her swing and it’s paying off,” Ronan coach Kaylee Cheff said of Clairmont. The home run carved into the Stevensville lead, 5-1. Unfortunately, the Jackets countered with a run in the bottom half to maintain the margin.

The Maidens threatened to advance a base runner into scoring position in the top half of the fourth when Ashlie Welker attempted to steal second base. But Welker was picked off by Stevensville catcher Dani Trangmoe, who sat out much of last season recovering from a back injury.

Clairmont added an RBI hit in the fifth inning, scoring sister Regan Clairmont to give Ronan its second run of the contest. But at that juncture, the Yellowjackets held at 9-2 advantage that they would add to bottom half of the inning to end the contest via the ten run rule.

The Yellowjackets just missed making the playoffs last season by a single-run tiebreaker and are comprised of a large swath of seasoned Bitterroot Sparks summer softball players who have toured extensively against stiff competition.

“With more time outside, we anticipate we’ll be more competitive in upcoming games,” said Cheff.

The Maidens will host Columbia Falls on Friday, April 5, JV at 3 p.m., varsity at 5 p.m. On Saturday, April 6, Ronan will host the Frenchtown Lady Broncs JV slated at noon, varsity scheduled for 2 p.m.

Stevensville 12, Ronan 2 (5 innings)

Ronan (0-2), Stevensville (1-0)

Ronan 001 01 – 2 6 ?*

Stevensville 141 33 – 12 16 0*

Macao Jackson (1K) and Maddy Mae Miller. Sarah Morrison, Ashlin Hiller (5) and Dani Trangmoe, Taylor Springer (5). W – Morrison (1-0). L – Jackson (0-2).

RONAN – Madison Clairmont 2-3, LaNissa Mahkuk 0-3, Jackson 0-2, Emilie Corley 0-1, Miller 0-2, Ashlie Welker 1-2, Rhiley Big Beaver 0-2, Regan Clairmont 1-2, Brooklyn Kenelty 0-2.

STEVENSVILLE – Syd Paul 2-4, Hiller 2-4, Haley Kampka 1-4, Kaylee Berning 2-4, Springer 3-4, Jessie Newman 3-4, Maddie Sims 1-2, Trangmoe 1-2, Cassi Kopsa 1-2.

HR – M.Clairmont. 3B – R.Clairmont. 2B – *M.Clairmont; Newman. RBIs – M.Clairmont 2; Berning 3, Trangmoe, Kopsa. SH – Trangmoe. BB – Sims 2. HB – Corley. (Sa30Mar19)

Asterisk (*) denotes stat variant(s) where alternative assessments differ: M.Clairmont (Ronan: 1B+E7; Stevi: 2B), Errors (Ronan: R7, S?; Stevi: R0,S0). Number of errors committed by Ronan scales back the number of hits credited to Stevensville, but stat notations made it unclear how many for Stevensville