Whitefish falls, but moves on to play-in

WHITEFISH — Polson won, but is done; Whitefish lost and gets to keep going. 

Cody Haggard threw a six-inning three-hit shutout and helped his own cause with two hits and two RBIs as the Pirates beat Whitefish 10-0 in North A baseball action Thursday. 

The game jumbled the North A standings, knocking the Bulldogs (13-8 overall, 10-4 in league) down to third. Polson improved to 9-5 in conference play and 12-9 overall, but just short of a play-in game to the State A tournament, which it hosts next week. 

Whitefish plays at Florence Friday at 5 p.m. for a berth into State; Bigfork (13-5, 11-3 in league) plays host to Hamilton in another play-in game at 5 p.m. Friday. 

Columbia Falls (15-4, 11-3) earned the North A’s automatic bid into the state tournament. 

Polson 10, Whitefish 0 

Haggard walked one and struck out one while holding the Bulldogs offense in check. 

Then the Pirates used four walks and two hit batters to fuel a seven-run sixth inning that broke the game open. 

Cole Wadsworth had the big hit, a two-run single that made it 5-0; with two out, Liam Jackson walked to load the bases and Haggard was hit by a pitch to drive in another run.  

Paxson DuMont walked to make it 7-0 and three more runs came in via two wild pitches and one passed ball. 

Wadsworth had two hits and two RBIs; Haggard scored three runs. Jackson had a triple. 

Tait Orme, Luke Dalen and Reyd Hobart had singles for Whitefish. 

Eureka 15, Noxon 0 

NOXON — Eureka pitcher Rowan Burow threw three perfect innings, striking out eight of the nine men he faced, and the Lions scored 13 runs in the third to end it.

It was 2-0 before the Lions sent 17 men to the plate in the third. Rogan Lytle had an RBI double that made it 4-0, and a two-run double that pushed the gap to 11-0.  

Rowan and Leif Burow reached on dropped third strikes in back-to-back at-bats in the inning; both scored. Logan Burow had an RBI double later in the frame. 

Tyce Van Orden drove in one run with a single, and another with a bases-loaded hit by pitch. Logan Cuffe had two hits in the frame and he and Emmet McKim both had RBIs. 

Standings

North A 

x-Columbia Falls    11-3    15-4  

Bigfork    11-3    13-5 

Whitefish    10-4    13-8 

Polson    9-5    12-9 

Eureka    8-6    13-8 

Libby    5-9    6-11 

Noxon    2-12    3-14 

Browning    0-14    0-14 

South A 

x-Frenchtown    11-1    16-4 

Florence    10-2    12-5 

Hamilton    9-3    17-3 

Corvallis    6-6    7-13 

Stevensville    3-8    5-9 

Mission-Arlee-Charlo    1-10    5-14 

Ronan    1-11    1-17 

x-Qualified for the State A Tournament March 28-30 in Polson.