The Columbia Falls Wildcats nailed down the North A’s automatic berth into the State A/B baseball tournament that begins today in Polson with pitching, hitting and some help from their rivals.

“We needed a little help from Polson,” Wildcats coach Chad Green said this week, and it went like this: Whitefish hosted Polson in both teams’ final regular-season game; the Bulldogs knew they were a playoff team but couldn’t finish first and held back ace pitcher Tait Orme for the play-in. The Pirates won 10-0. 

That left the Wildcats tied for first (at 11-3 in league games) with, and owning the tiebreaker over, the Bigfork Vikings. 

Polson, meanwhile, finished a game out of the running for the tournament, which takes place at its own O’Malley Park. That left Bigfork and Whitefish to win play-ins, which they did behind sterling pitching performances from the Max Schara and Orme. 

Back to the Wildcats, who have been up-and-down but mostly up this spring, A signature win at Eureka set the pace. 

“We beat their best pitcher, possibly the best pitcher in the league, Rowan Burow,” Green said. “It was probably our best game.” 

Three days later the Wildcats dropped a home game to Whitefish. There was also an early loss to Bigfork. 

“We weathered the storm and did what we needed to, in a very competitive conference,” Green said. “There were five legit teams with a chance to go to State.” 

The Cats, 15-4 overall, have a lineup led by Jett Pitts (.541 batting average), Nico Young (.435) and Jaxson Cadwell (.420). On the bump Pitts has a 1.54 earned-run average; Young’s is 2.25 and Tayvin Beach’s is 2.29. Then there’s lefty Zeke Dunn, whose ERA isn’t much south of the other three. 

“I’ve got four guys I am really comfortable sending out there and counting us to keep us in the game,” Green said. The next game is at 12:45 p.m. against Columbus, a Class B school that also draws players from Park City, Red Lodge and Joliet. 

The Cougars are 11-5 with a win over defending state champion Billings Central. 

“They’re No. 2 in the East,” Green said. “That’s enough for me.” 

Whitefish opens the tournament at 10 a.m. with 17-0 Dillon, and Bulldogs coach Kyler Blades likes the challenge. 

“In baseball really, more than any other sport, anyone can beat anyone on any given day,” he said. 

Orme is the acknowledged leader and came up big in the play-in game, throwing a 5-hitter in a 5-1 win over Florence. 

“Making it to State is always the goal,” Blades said, whose club had three of the four state tournaments. “We beat a really good Florence team. They were buttoned up and playing well, but Tait Orme has really been on a tear late in the season. Especially pitching, and he led us to victory there.” 

Blades also singled out Carter Godsey and Reed Boyer.  

“Reed has been our top ‘vibes’ player and, for lack of a better word, a psycho on the bases,” Blades said. “He’s the biggest, fastest strongest player on the team. Point me to another No. 9 hitter who can bunt for a base hit and hit a home run, and I’ll be surprised.” 

Boyer has three homers and two bunt singles. Meanwhile Carter Godsey has enjoyed a strong year.  

“He has been smacking the ball around the yard and playing great defense,” Blades said. “We had three double plays in Florence. I’m really excited to see him as a junior really blossom into a good contributor.” 

Bigfork’s 4-3 play-in win over Hamilton Friday was notable for Grady Campbell’s walk-off RBI double in the 10th inning, but mostly for Schara, who pitched all 10 frames while allowing four hits and striking out seven. 

“We were on a pitch count, and he was dominant against a very good team,” Bigfork coach Dave Romano said. “He averaged 10.1 pitches an inning. 

“That just showed the competitive nature, the dog that he is.” 

He’s not alone: Romero also likes the way Hayden Mayer and Mason Lewis have thrown all season on a 14-5 team.  

The Vikings have the talent to do damage, obviously, and Billings Central — which boasts fireballing junior Paxton Prill — could be in for a pitcher’s duel today, especially if Schara takes the bump. 

“I’m not ready to say that,” Romero said. “He is eligible to pitch, though.”