Bravettes trip Knights, end on high note

Olivia Nyman hit a home run, Macey McIlhargey scored on a passed ball in the eighth inning and the Flathead Bravettes scored a season-ending, walk-off 5-4 softball win over Missoula Hellgate Thursday.

Lacey Franklin went the distance in the circle for Flathead, which improved to 3-11 in Western AA games and 4-16 overall. The Bravettes won their second straight but will finish seventh in the league — Hellgate fell to 0-13 in conference play — and ineligible for a State AA play-in game. 

The second-through-sixth seeds will square off next week.

To get the victory at Kidsport, Flathead needed an RBI triple from McIlhargey in the first inning, an RBI single from Mackenzie Brandt in the second and Nyman’s solo homer in the third.  

The Bravettes also had to overcome some shaky defense, as three of Hellgate’s runs were unearned. That included in the seventh, when the Knights’ Kylie Moe doubled and came around when Nat Blaney’s grounder was misplayed for an error. 

That knotted the score at 4-4, where it stayed until the bottom of the eighth. Then it was Hellgate’s defense that got shaky.  

McIlhargey hit a leadoff single, moved to second on a dropped fly ball, to third on a wild pitch and came in as Franklin struck out, but reached when the pitch got away. 

Franklin allowed six hits and two walks, with six strikeouts. 

Hellgate    020    010    10    -    4    6    1 

Flathead    211    000    01    -    5    7    6 

Avery King and Ella Lambert. Lacie Franklin and Reese Conley. 

MISSOULA HELLGATE — Kaylie Moe 1-3, Nat Blaney 1-4, King 1-3, Piper Wells 1-4, Lambert 0-4, Olivia Schubert 0-4, Kaija Nagle 1-3, Kaelynn Hopfauf 1-3, K Robinson 0-3. 

FLATHEAD — Mackenzie Brandt 1-4, Danica Hennell 0-3, Conley 1-3, Olivia Nyman 1-4, Macey McIlhargey 2-3, Kinsey Lake 1-4, Frankling 1-4, Lily Anderson 0-3, Makenna Korf 0-2. 

2B — Moe, Franklin. 3B — McIlhargey. HR — Nyman. RBIs — Nyman 2, Brandt, McIlhargey.