Pirates capture Western A title

POLSON -The Polson Lady Pirate softball team almost couldn't put a foot wrong.

On a soggy Friday evening, the Pirates got all the timely hits, the key walk and made just about all the defensive plays as they defeated the visiting Libby Loggers in a contest to decide the Western A regular season championship.

The final score was 8-3.

The conference was decided by four runs.

Libby and Polson both finished the regular season 11-1, 17-5. The conference loss each had was to the other. But Libby defeated the Pirates by just one run in Libby.

"I thought we just had a good game all around," said Pirate coach Larry Smith.

"We were kind of in a little bit of a slump," he said.

The Pirates haven't been blown out of any games, but they suffered some difficult losses in recent days.

"It was starting to hurt them," the coach said of the Pirates. "They were starting to think about it."

Friday's victory will go a long way toward restoring confidence, Smith said.

As for Friday's game, "I honestly thought the key was our defense," he said.

After one costly first-inning error, the Pirates were flawless in the field.

"We made some great defensive plays. Defense wins games this time of year," Smith said.

Offensively, they didn't do badly, either.

Shortstop Strohm Fouty hit two triples - one with the bases loaded - and outfielder Keely Torgison crushed her fifth home run of the year for the Pirates.

"We didn't hit the ball real well," said Logger coach Dean Thompson.

Libby had two hits in the first inning and two in the third, but added just two more over the rest of the game.

Sam Schultz led the Loggers at the plate. She was 2-for-3. Laice Dedrick also connected for a solo home run in the sixth.

"Polson had some good, nice shots. They strung some hits. Strohm (Fouty) had a great game. We didn't string enough hits together," Thompson said.

The Loggers also got to deal with an injury to starting pitcher Brooke Hageness in the top of the first inning.

The Loggers were off to a great start at the time.

Hageness, batting third, had hit a double and was advancing to third base on a single by Erin Bothman when she sprained her ankle.

That forced third baseman Dedrick into the circle and put freshman Shelby Barton at third.

"The girls didn't get their heads down," the coach said.

"We put our second pitcher in. She came in and pitched a great game.

"Barton did a great job," he added.

"(The injury) gave Laice a great opportunity to pitch against a great team. It was a good opportunity for her to see where she's at," he added.

Libby wound up with two runs in the first inning.

Dedrick gave up one two-out single in the bottom of the first, but otherwise shut Polson down.

The main damage came in the second inning.

Tami Bonkowski singled to start the inning. That was followed by a flyout, two walks and a fielder's choice when Libby shortstop Bothman threw Bonkowski out at the plate.

But the bases were still loaded for Fouty. She saw something she liked in the first pitch and sent it to center field.

"She crushed it," Smith smiled.

It would have been a double for someone less speedy, but Fouty easily attained third.

Fouty "can turn a single into a double and a double into a triple," Smith said. "She's just got a great feel for the game."

Polson added one run in the third, then put two up in the fifth inning and one in the sixth.

The state tournament begins Thursday at Polson. Tournament matchups won't be announced for a few days, as some teams around the state are still winding down their regular-season schedules.

LADY PIRATES 8, LADY LOGGERS 3

Libby 200 001 0 - 3 6 1

Polson 041 021 x - 8 9 1

Laice Dedrick and Teri Rebo. Dylen Zetterberg and Jenni Nesladek. W - Zetterberg. L - Dedrick. HR - Dedrick (L), Torgison (P). 3B - Fouty (P) 2. 2B - Hageness (L).

Libby - Nicole Rowan 0-4, Sam Schultz 2-3, Shelby Barton 1-2, Brooke Hageness 1-1, Laice Dedrick 1-3, Erin Bothman 1-3, Teri Rebo 0-3, Rose Young 0-3, Casey Doyle 0-3, Sara Lawrence 0-3.

RBIs: Dedrick 1, Rebo 1.

Polson - Strohm Fouty 2-4, Jenni Nesladek 2-4, Jaelin Vandeberg 1-4, Keely Torgison 1-3, Tami Bonkowski 1-2, Dylen Zetterberg 1-3, Janell Lundeen 1-1, Lindsey Rafter 0-1, Brittany Jones 0-2.

RBIs: Fouty 3, Nesladek 2, Torgison 1.