Wildcats go 1-2 at state, have tough battle with Dillon

The Columbia Falls boys baseball team came just short of making it to the finals of the state A championship last week.

The Wildcats opened the tourney by dropping Columbus 4-1 in the opener behind strong pitching by Zeke Dunn, who went the distance giving up just two hits while striking out eight.

The game was knotted up at one apiece when Jett Pitts tripled, driving in Nico Young and Lincoln Fisher with no outs.

Tristan Victor then hit a single to drive in Pitts.

In the semifinals the Cats were knotted up with undefeated Dillon at four apiece when Beaver Gage Curnow hit a walk-off single with a man on to win the game.

The Cats had a 3-0 lead after four innings.Tristan Victor walked to get a man on, then Wyatt Dodson was hit by a pitch. Jory Hill hit a single to drive in Victor, then Zeke Dunn walked to load them up.

After Easton Corbett hit into a fielder’s choice for the first out of the inning, Jaxson Cadwell singled to drive in Hill. Lincoln Fisher hit a sac fly to bring in Dunn.

But the Cats couldn’t hold the lead as Dillon added a run in the bottom of the fifth and two in the bottom of the sixth to tie it.

The Cats would retake the lead in the top of the seventh when Jett Pitts hit an RBI single to drive in Young, who was hit by a pitch to get on base.

But with a man on third Dillon scored on a wild pitch by Tayvin Beach and then scored the go-ahead run.

Nico Young got the start on the bump and went an inning before Pitts came in relief and pitched 5-2/3 innings, but reached the 110-pitch limit. Beach, who has been stellar all season, took the loss in relief as the winning hit was a little blooper single into the outfield.

The Cats then had a rough go against Billings Central in the consolation bracket, losing 12-2 in a game that went five innings.

They ended the season at 16-5.

The Northwest was well represented at the tourney, however, as Bigfork beat Dillon for the title 4-2.