Welcome everybody to the Keeping Score podcast presented by Corwin Motors, I am your host, Josh Amick. 

This week we have the Sapa-Johnsrud Invitational where the Wildcats keep rolling, Whitefish tennis sends five players to state, the AA Lakers continue to play well on the diamond and a look-ahead to the state tournaments this week and what matchups to look forward too. So, without further ado, let’s get into this week’s highlights you might have missed. 

It was a busy week at the Sapa-Johnsrud Invitational and the hometown Columbia Falls Wildcats extended their winning streak to 12 with a couple of impressive wins to finish as one of the top seeds in state.  

In their first game, Zeke Dunn pitched a complete game, allowing three hits, one earned run and fanned 10 batters as the  Wildcats won their 11th straight game, beating the Polson Pirates 2-1. The Wildcats (16-1) plated both their runs in the third inning when Cooper Ross and Reggie Sapa singled before Jett Pitts hit a 2-run double. Pitts added a single in the sixth inning as Columbia Falls were held to four hits.   

Cooper Ross kept the Frenchtown Broncs scoreless through the first five frames, and the Wildcats mustered up enough offense to win the 2-1 pitcher’s duel Saturday to extend their winning streak to 12 games.   

In a matchup of teams headed to next week’s state tournament, Ross surrendered just five hits to the Broncs, with one unearned run and struck out four across six innings.  

Reggie Sapa earned the save after pitching the seventh, but not without some traffic on the bases.  

After recording the first two outs, Sapa walked back-to-back batters that put the tying-run in scoring position before striking out the final batter. 

Brady Matson and Noah Upton each drove in a run for Columbia Falls. 

With these wins the Wildcats reach State and will play Billings Central Thursday at 10 a.m. Good luck to the Cats and keep the winning streak going. 

Whitefish picked up two wins as well last week but unfortunately did not qualify for the state tournament. In their first game Friday, the Bulldogs scored all seven of their runs in the first inning, highlighted by Carter Godsey’s RBI double, and held on to beat the Frenchtown Broncs 7-4. 

The Bulldogs collected six of their nine walks in the bottom half of the first, with five of them coming around to score. Max Barone walked twice, singled and scored a run. Calvin Eisenbarth added an RBI and a run scored.   

In game two, Polson plated all eight of its runs in the fourth inning to take an 8-6 lead before the Whitefish Bulldogs responded with two runs in the fifth and sixth innings in a back-and-forth game at Smith Fields.   

The Bulldogs jumped out to an early 6-0 lead after scoring five runs in their half of the third on four hits. Max Barone doubled to lead off the inning, Ryan Conklin singled before Christian Schwaderer drove both runners in on a triple.    

Calvin Eisenbarth tied the game 8-8 in the fifth inning, blasting a 2-run home run to score Carter Godsey. Tait Orme broke the tie in the sixth inning with an RBI single and Reyd Hobart singled Orme home for the final run of the game. 

The Bulldogs finished the season with a great record of 15-4, so congratulations to Whitefish on a great season. 

Bigfork was also fighting for a chance to make state before dropping two close games and falling out of content for a play-in game. Bigfork lost to Corvallis 8-7 Friday where they gave up four runs in the final inning including a 3-run home run by Reese Earp. The Vikings held a 7-2 lead after four before giving up six runs in the final three innings to lose. 

In their second game, both teams were held scoreless over the final seven innings of the game before Jackson Lubke hit the game-winning sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 11th inning to send the Hamilton Broncs to the State Tournament with a 2-1 win over the Vikings in the final play-in game on Saturday.  

Bigfork was first on the board when Mason Lewis connected on an RBI single scoring Grady Campbell. That was the only run plated for the Vikings as they missed a crucial opportunity in the top of the 11th inning when Liam Benson doubled before the next three batters were retired in order.   

The Vikings finished 12-5 and were just one game away from a chance of making the play-in game for State so congratulations to Bigfork on a great season.  

The AA Lakers won all four of their games last week to improve to 13-4 on the season. Three Kalispell pitchers combined on a four-hitter and the AA Lakers put up crooked numbers in three innings during a 19-1 Legion baseball win over Class A Libby Wednesday. 

Brady Buckmaster hit an RBI triple and scored four runs from the leadoff spot for the Lakers. Hunter Fann, Kaeden Kahler and Cale Brink all drove in three runs each, and Luke Nikunen, who was hit twice by pitches, and Wyatt Asher each scored three times. 

Nikunen pitched a complete game shutout, allowing just four hits, walking none and striking out seven as the Lakers won 10-0 over the Cranbrook Bandits in their second game of the Canadian Days Tournament at Griffin Field Saturday. They beat the Prairie Cardinals 15-0 in the opener. 

Hunter Fann provided the sparks for the Lakers offense, hitting an inside the park home run in the fifth inning, scoring one and finishing with three RBIs. Nikunen added two hits, including a double, a run scored and an RBI after dazzling on the mound for five innings as the game was called early to the mercy rule.    

In their third game, Bryce Buckmaster pitched a no-hit shutout, striking out six in Friday’s game that lasted just three innings due to the run rule as the Lakers won easily 15-0. 

The Lakers offense wasted no time, as the first seven batters reached base, highlighted by Kaedan Kahler’s 2-run double to jump out to an early 8-0 lead after one. They plated four more runs in the second inning and Nikunen’s 2-run single made it 15-0 after three to end the game. 

There were no softball games last week, but here are some state pairings to look out for this upcoming week.  Glacier finished 16-3 and will play Billings West Thursday at 4 p.m. Columbia Falls finished 15-6 and will play at home vs Hamilton at 11 a.m. on Thursday as well, best of luck to both teams. 

Moving on to tennis, Whitefish claimed three of the titles with Liesl Brust taking the girls singles, Maggie Mercer and Camry Kelch winning girls doubles and Walt Seigmund and Aaron Anderson claiming the boys' doubles.  

On top of the titles, Whitefish sends four other singles players to state with top four finishes. Jack Oehlerich took the runner-up spot in the boys singles with Owen Erickson finishing third. For the girls, Allie Shors and Emy Hansen took third and fourth. 

While Columbia Falls may not have had the titles, three doubles pairings secured spots in the state tournament May 22-23 in Billings. 

After two days of competition seven Glacier and one Flathead tennis players reached one of their goals for 2025, a spot in the state tournament. In boys singles, Glacier’s Creed Norick and Flathead’s Holden Askvig fell in the semifinals before both claimed a win in round seven to secure their spots at the state tournament in Bozeman May 22-23.   

A pair of Wolfpack girls singles earned spots in the state tournament: sophomore Leilani Lennarz dropped a third-set tiebreaker to finish runner up to CMR’s Coco Brown while Autumn Bashara grabbed a straight-sets win in the third-place match.  

In girls' doubles, Glacier’s Reid Sanders and Quinn Berkram nabbed a state qualifying spot with a fourth-place finish after winning three straight matches in the consolation bracket. 

Moving on to track, it was a fast boys 300-meter hurdles at the Western AA Divisional Friday, and Flathead’s William Hollensteiner was the fastest.  

The junior led a 1-2-3 Kalispell finish with a personal-record time at Bulldog Memorial Stadium. Teammate Lane Chivers was second and Glacier standout Ethan Anderson was third. 

Hollensteiner won twice Friday, claiming the long jump with a near-meet record leap of 22 feet, 5.5 inches. It was also a PR and led a 1-2 Flathead finish with Ben Bliven.  

After eight girls events Glacier had 61 points. The Wolfpack got one individual victory, from sophomore Allie Krueger in the shot put (35-9), and a ton of depth points.  Wolfpack boys got a win from Ben Winters in the shot put.  

The Flathead Bravettes also made noise.  

Senior Alivia Rinehart ran the fastest times in both the 200-meter dash and the 100-meter hurdles trials, then ran a career-best 44.54 seconds to win the 300 hurdles.  

In the 3,200, senior Josie Wilson and freshman teammate Everett Holland supplied a first-and-third finish.  

The Whitefish girls had a big Saturday at the Western A Divisional, especially Rachael Wilmot, and Simon Douglas stood out for the Bulldog boys as well. Behind Wilmot’s sprint sweep, Whitefish claimed the girls team title at the Polson Athletic Complex with 81 points. 

In the girls meet, Wilmot added wins in the 100 and 200 on Saturday to her 400 victory from Friday.  

Then there’s the high jump, which Whitefish freshman Grace Sliman won on criteria. She was one of five athletes to clear 4 feet 10 inches. She came in at that height, made it on her first attempt and when everyone else needed more than one.  

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