Kats come from behind to down Loggers

Columbia Falls Wildkat softball split their games this past week, going 1-1 falling to Class AA Glacier Wolfpack in a non-conference matchup Tuesday and then a come from behind win in Libby on Saturday.

Columbia Falls got on the scoreboard early in the top of the first against the Wolfpack. With a pair of doubles, Kylie Gjesdal-Davis and Bella Mann drove in three runs between them.  Katie Bulawsky added two more with a home run over the center field fence, giving Columbia Falls a 5-0 lead heading into the bottom of the first.  Glacier responded in the bottom of the inning with three of their own, cutting the lead to 5-3 going into the second.  The Wildkats added two more runs in the top of the second and one in the fourth, but Glacier kept pace and would go on to score another three runs during the bottom of the third and they’d tie the game at 8 each in the fifth. Columbia Falls briefly regained the lead in the top of the sixth when Gjesdal-Davis hit a sacrifice fly to bring Alexa Friske home, making it 9-8.  However, Glacier wasn’t done and would have a three-run inning in the sixth to take their first lead of the night, 11-9.  The Kats had one last opportunity in the seventh but were unable to get anything going and the Pack would take the win.

Total hits would be close as Columbia Falls racked up 11, while Glacier would have 12. Friske was perfect at the plate going 4-for-4, and teammate Gjesdal-Davis would drive in four RBIs.  

“I am happy with the way we competed against Glacier.  We saw three of their pitchers, which is good for us.  I feel like we hit good and we had eight different players who had a quality at bat, which in our program is seeing seven pitches or more at bat,” said head coach Rick Lawrence.

Bulawsky took the lead in the circle for the Kats.  Over the course of four innings, she would give up seven hits and six runs (four earned), strike out four and walk one.  Ella Branstetter would come in to provide relief in the bottom of the fifth, and she’d give up five hits and five runs (three earned).  

Saturday, the Wildkats were on the road for a conference rematch against the Libby Loggers.  The last time the two teams faced off the Kats took the contest 17-7.  This time, they’d have to come from behind to pull out an exciting two-out seventh inning rally.  

Columbia Falls jumped out to an early lead in the first 2-1, but they’d be unable to generate any offense again until the top of the seventh.  Meanwhile, Libby would add one in each of the second, third, and fourth innings to pull ahead 4-1.  The Kats’ offense would spark back to life during the seventh when they put four on the board with two outs to make it 6-4 heading into the bottom of the inning.  The Loggers would not be able to get anything past a solid defense and would be three up and three down and Columbia Falls would go on to secure the 6-4 victory.

Gjesdal-Davis led the offense with 3-for-4 at the plate and three RBIs.  The Kats would walk away with six hits and six walks.

Bulawsky once again showed her skills in the circle.  The right-hander allowed ten hits with four runs (all were earned) along with striking out three and no walks.

“In Libby we scored two in the first and four in the seventh.  I’d like to see a few more runs in the second through sixth innings, but the team did what they needed to do to get another good conference win against a good team.  The girls never stopped battling and being engaged in the game.  They were confident that they could tie it up or go ahead even going into the seventh inning with only three outs left to work with.  They didn’t give up and stayed locked in,” Lawrence said. “That was a fun seventh inning comeback and then held them defensively.  Just to add a little more drama, they scored all four runs with two outs.  First and second batters struck out.  Then, Friske hit the ball hard causing the second baseman to have an error and she beat the throw to first with her speed.  Mann walked with a full count on her, and when Lawrence came up, they changed the pitcher, and she then hit a double off the right center fence, scoring both Friske and Mann to tie it 4-4.  Gjesdal-Davis hit a double to left field scoring Lawrence making it 5-4.  Branstetter then hit a hard single to left center scoring Gjesdal-Davis to make it 6-4. Bulawsky pitched all seven innings and worked hard.  She pitched a good game.”

The Kats were also scheduled to play Polson at home on Thursday, but due to winter conditions, the game was canceled and will be rescheduled for a later date.

They will see a lot of action this coming week as they travel to Browning on Tuesday after presstime, followed by a Class AA matchup against Flathead Thursday at home, and then four games over the course of Friday and Saturday as they head to Frenchtown for their annual Invitational.