Whitefish stays hot behind Orme, powerful offense

COLUMBIA FALLS — Tait Orme struck out 11 and tossed a complete game as Whitefish rolled past Columbia Falls 10-2 on Thursday in boys Northwest A baseball. 

Whitefish (10-5) broke the game open with four runs in the second inning, helped by Drew Queen’s RBI walk, an error that scored two runs and an Orme sacrifice fly. Gavin Knapp added an RBI single in the third inning. 

Carter Godsey paced the Bulldogs at the plate, going 3-for-5 with three RBIs. Reyd Hobart, Knapp and Reed Boyer each collected multiple hits as Whitefish finished with 15 hits and four stolen bases. 

Wyatt Dodson led Columbia Falls (10-4) with two hits, while Jory Hill and Nico Young each drove in a run. 

Polson 7, Libby 0

LIBBY — Cody Haggard and Liam Jackson combined on a four-hit shutout as Polson blanked Libby on Thursday. 

Holden Emerson gave the Pirates (9-6) an early lead with a solo home run in the first inning before Parker Shoemake tripled home a run in the second. Cole Wadsworth later added a sacrifice fly as Polson steadily pulled away. 

Haggard struck out eight over six scoreless innings, while Jackson worked a clean seventh inning. 

Hunter Luedtke, Jackson and Emerson each collected two hits for Polson. Hunter Rooney led Libby (5-8) with two hits. 

Corvallis 12, Ronan 7

CORVALLIS — Maurice Craun’s go-ahead home run sparked a late rally as the Blue Devils pulled away from Ronan on Thursday. 

The Chiefs (1-14) jumped out to a 3-1 lead in the first inning behind a Blaine Dupuis two-run single and later reclaimed the lead in the fourth when Caiden Pierre doubled home a run. 

Craun’s two-run homer in the fifth pushed Corvallis ahead for good before the Blue Devils erupted for six runs in the sixth inning. Ryan Bourassa delivered a two-run double during the rally, while Jake Leavitt added a two-run single. 

Leavitt finished 4-for-4 to lead Corvallis (5-10), while Craun drove in three runs. Dupuis drove in two runs for Ronan.