State A softball: Polson wins, Laurel walks off C-Falls
Daily Inter Lake | Daily Inter-Lake | UPDATED 1 year, 3 months AGO
Columbia Falls' Kylie Gjesdal-Davis (14) beats the throw and tag at home plate during the Wildkats' 8-run third inning against Hamilton in the Class A State Tournament at Columbia Falls High School on Thursday, May 22. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Columbia Falls celebrates as Annika Reid (24) approaches home plate after her solo home run in the fourth inning against Hamilton in the Class A State Tournament at Columbia Falls High School on Thursday, May 22. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Columbia Falls third baseman Kylie Gjesdal-Davis (14) throws out a Hamilton batter trying to reach first on a bunt in the Class A State Tournament at Columbia Falls High School on Thursday, May 22. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Columbia Falls pitcher Ella Branstetter (23) delivers against Hamilton in the Class A State Tournament at Columbia Falls High School on Thursday, May 22. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Columbia Falls right fielder Sydnee Burke (4) squeezes a line drive against Hamilton in the Class A State Tournament at Columbia Falls High School on Thursday, May 22. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Columbia Falls second baseman Addy Bowler (11) attempts to turn a double play against Hamilton in the Class A State Tournament at Columbia Falls High School on Thursday, May 22. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Columbia Falls catcher Bella Mann (3) throws to first for an out after fielding a bunt against Hamilton in the Class A State Tournament at Columbia Falls High School on Thursday, May 22. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Columbia Falls' Tayler Lingle (6) drives in two runs with a double in the third inning against Hamilton in the Class A State Tournament at Columbia Falls High School on Thursday, May 22. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Columbia Falls' Sydnee Burke (4) drives in two runs with a double in the fourth inning against Hamilton in the Class A State Tournament at Columbia Falls High School on Thursday, May 22. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Columbia Falls pitcher Katie Bulawsky (5) delivers against Hamilton in the Class A State Tournament at Columbia Falls High School on Thursday, May 22. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Columbia Falls' Annika Reid (24) connects on a solo home run in the fourth inning against Hamilton in the Class A State Tournament at Columbia Falls High School on Thursday, May 22. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
Columbia Falls' Alexa Friske (13) drives in two runs with a double in the third inning against Hamilton in the Class A State Tournament at Columbia Falls High School on Thursday, May 22. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider
COLUMBIA FALLS — The Columbia Falls Wildkats had a laugher, then a heartbreaker, and the Polson Pirates gutted one out.
A three-run home run in the seventh inning by Emerson Gunther, her second big fly of the game, gave Laurel a 6-5 walk-off win over defending champion Columbia Falls at the State A softball tournament Thursday.
The Locomotives (19-6) moved into a 1 p.m. winner’s bracket game against Polson (17-5-1), which pushed past Dillon 5-4 Thursday.
Columbia Falls (15-7), which opened with a 16-2 win over Hamilton, fell into a loser-out game against Lockwood (14-8) at 9 a.m.
In Thursday’s other games, Havre beat Lockwood 12-8 before losing to Frenchtown 4-1; Dillon beat East Helena 11-0; and Billings Central beat Stevensville 5-2 before losing to Lewistown 12-1.
Laurel 6, Columbia Falls 5
The Wildkats kept momentum from their opening win quite a while. Leading 1-0 on Annika Reid’s RBI single in the first inning and 3-0 on Onnika Lawrence’s RBI triple and Reid’s sacrifice fly in the third.
In the fifth, Reid’s screaming line drive single — it caromed off a fence post back toward the infield — plated the Kats’ fifth run.
Laurel responded with Gunther’s two-run home run in the sixth — a runner had reached via error — to close to 5-2. Then came the seventh.
Ashley Brown doubled and came in on Kourtney Kraft’s one-out single; after Sophia Wisecup hit another single, Gunther hit a blast to center to give her five RBIs.
Adrienne Roth went the distance in the circle for Laurel, scattering 12 hits and two walks. She fanned four.
Ella Branstetter pitched into the seventh for the Kats, allowing five hits and two walks, with one strike out. Kate Bulawsky came on with nobody out, but Laurel wouldn’t be denied.
The Wildkats may have a long Friday ahead, but that won’t be new: Last season, partly because of weather, they played three Friday games before getting four more in on Saturday enroute to their second straight championship.
Tayler Lingle and Reid both had three hits; Reid drove in three runs. Addy Bowler had two hits and she and Lingle scored twice.
Polson 5, Dillon 4
The Lady Pirates trailed 2-0 early, then jumped ahead 4-2 thanks to a bases-loaded single by Olivia Jore and a two-run double from Opal Nash.
Nash had just missed hitting a bloop single to left, the ball foul by less than an inch; she then hit the next pitch to dead center to put the Lady Pirates ahead.
Dillon rallied in the sixth with RBI singles from Kylie Konen and, with two out, Bridget Lovaas.
Then the Beavers misplayed a ball hit by Sierra Perez to start Polson’s half of the sixth. Perez stole second and came in on Jaja Nichols’ two-out single.
Pirates pitcher Samantha Rensvold retired the Beavers in order in the seventh. Rensvold went the distance, allowing six hits. She struck out seven.
Adyson Creighton allowed just three hits in six innings in the circle for Dillon, but walked four. She fanned four, and none of Polson’s runs were earned.
Columbia Falls 16, Hamilton 2
The Wildkats broke away from a 2-2 tie with eight runs in the third inning and six in the fourth.
Alexa Friske’s two-run double and Bella Mann’s two-run single got things going in the third: 12 Wildkats came to the plate, and all of them reached except Annika Reid.
Then Reid hit a solo home run to lead off the fourth inning. Before it ended Sidney Burke and Tayler Lingle had hit two-run doubles. The game ended in the top of the fifth under the mercy rule.
Branstetter threw three innings, scattering eight hits with two strikeouts; Bulawsky allowed two hits in two scoreless frames. She walked one and fanned two.
Frenchtown 4, Havre 1
Broncs pitcher Ryan Lucier gave up one hit — a home run by Havre’s Camille Keeley with two outs in the seventh — and struck out 15.
Frenchtown broke a 0-0 tie in the sixth inning, getting singles from Makenzie Brush and Bailey Hansen ahead of an RBI grounder by Delanie Magnuson.
Brooklyn Smith followed with a three-run home run for a 4-0 lead.
Lewistown 12, Billings Central 1
Jaden Martin hit a three-run home run in the first inning, Kiera Southard and Regan Comes also homered and the Golden Eagles dispatched the Rams in five innings.
Comes added a three-run homer to put her team up 7-1 in the fourth. Southard’s three-run shot in the bottom of the fifth ended the game under the mercy rule.
Kayla Jensen went the distance in the circle, allowing five hits and one walk. She had one strikeout.
Allene Johnson had three hits and scored the Rams’ lone run.
State A
May 22-24, Columbia Falls
Thursday
illon 11, East Helena 0
Columbia Falls 16, Hamilton 2
Billings Central 5, Stevensville 2
Havre 12, Lockwood 8
Polson 5, Dillon 4
Laurel 6, Columbia Falls 5
Lewistown 12, Billings Central 1
Frenchtown 4, Havre 1
Friday
Game 9: Dillon (15-5-1) vs. Stevensville (13-10), Field 2, 9 a.m.
Game 10: Columbia Falls (16-7) vs. Lockwood (14-8), Field 4, 9 a.m.
Game 11: Billings Central (16-6-1) vs. East Helena (5-12), Field 2, 11 a.m.
Game 12: Havre (13-11) vs. Hamilton (10-12-1), Field 4, 11 a.m.
Game 13: Polson (17-5-1) vs. Laurel (19-6), Field 2, 1 p.m.
Game 14: Frenchtown (18-3) vs. Lewistown (20-2), Field 4, 1 p.m.
Game 15: Winner 9 vs. Winner 10, Field 4, 3 p.m.
Game 16: Winner 11 s. Winner 12, Field 2, 3 p.m.
Game 17: Loser 14 vs. Winner 15, Field 4, 5 p.m.
Game 18: Loser 13 vs. Winner 16, Field 2, 5 p.m.
Saturday
Game 19: Winner 13 vs. Winner 14, Field 2, 10 a.m., semifinal
Game 20: Winner 18 vs. Winner 17, Field 4, 10 a.m., loser fourth
Game 21: Winner 20 vs. Loser 19, Field 4, noon, semifinal
Game 22: Winner 19 vs. Winner 21, Field 2, 2 p.m., championship
Game 23: If necessary, Field 2
Columbia Falls celebrates as Annika Reid (24) approaches home plate after her solo home run in the fourth inning against Hamilton in the Class A State Tournament at Columbia Falls High School on Thursday, May 22. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
Columbia Falls third baseman Kylie Gjesdal-Davis (14) throws out a Hamilton batter trying to reach first on a bunt in the Class A State Tournament at Columbia Falls High School on Thursday, May 22. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
Columbia Falls pitcher Ella Branstetter (23) delivers against Hamilton in the Class A State Tournament at Columbia Falls High School on Thursday, May 22. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
Columbia Falls right fielder Sydnee Burke (4) squeezes a line drive against Hamilton in the Class A State Tournament at Columbia Falls High School on Thursday, May 22. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
Columbia Falls second baseman Addy Bowler (11) attempts to turn a double play against Hamilton in the Class A State Tournament at Columbia Falls High School on Thursday, May 22. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
Columbia Falls catcher Bella Mann (3) throws to first for an out after fielding a bunt against Hamilton in the Class A State Tournament at Columbia Falls High School on Thursday, May 22. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
Columbia Falls' Tayler Lingle (6) drives in two runs with a double in the third inning against Hamilton in the Class A State Tournament at Columbia Falls High School on Thursday, May 22. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
Columbia Falls' Sydnee Burke (4) drives in two runs with a double in the fourth inning against Hamilton in the Class A State Tournament at Columbia Falls High School on Thursday, May 22. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
Columbia Falls pitcher Katie Bulawsky (5) delivers against Hamilton in the Class A State Tournament at Columbia Falls High School on Thursday, May 22. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
Columbia Falls' Annika Reid (24) connects on a solo home run in the fourth inning against Hamilton in the Class A State Tournament at Columbia Falls High School on Thursday, May 22. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider
Columbia Falls' Alexa Friske (13) drives in two runs with a double in the third inning against Hamilton in the Class A State Tournament at Columbia Falls High School on Thursday, May 22. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)Casey Kreider