Pirates flog Belgrade, 13-3

POLSON - It took Polson a couple of innings to get out of first gear Thursday, but when it did the Pirates looked every bit the defending champions.

Polson batted around in the fifth and sixth innings to 10-run Belgrade 13-3 in the Class A state softball tournament.

"That was our first game and their second game, and I think that was the difference there in the beginning," Polson coach Larry Smith said. "We were just a little bit uptight, first-game jitters. It's very important to get those out, and it took a couple of innings to do that."

Dylen Zetterberg settled down after a shaky start, striking out five and walking none while scattering eight hits.

"She was getting up in the zone a little bit," said Smith of Zetterberg's early performance.

Trailing 2-1 going to the bottom of the third, Polson used its blazing team speed to wreak havoc on the basepaths and take a 4-2 lead. The Pirates started beating out infield hits and forcing bad throws with aggressive baserunning.

The extended innings began to take their toll on Belgrade pitcher Ashley Swetye, who lost the strike zone and ended up walking eight on the day and giving the Pirates more chances to run wild.

"You see the speed we've got, that's our game," Smith said. "It creates a lot of problems. If they think they can go (the extra base), they go."

The top third of the Polson batting order did most of the damage. Leadoff batter Strohm Fouty went 3-for-4 with a double, two RBIs and four runs scored. No. 2 hitter Jenni Nesladek was 4-for-4 with a double, three RBIs and three runs. Jaelin Vandeberg went 3-for-4 with a double and RBI from the No. 3 spot.

Fouty was a catalyst, moving from first to third on a sacrifice - which then led to a bad throw at third allowing Fouty to score - stealing a base, legging out an infield hit, and getting hit by a pitch.

"We have extremely quick girls, and most of them bat left-handed, so that just makes them that much quicker to the base, and we're very aggressive," Fouty said of Polson's team speed. "It just causes so much … the pitcher is worried about the baserunners, the infield is worried about the baserunners, and it's just another thing to have to think about and it does cause problems."

The Pirates take on Frenchtown today at 1 p.m. A win gets them a 9 a.m. game Saturday; a loss and Polson is back at it at 5 p.m.

In other action Thursday, the Libby Loggers gave away three runs on poor fielding and failed to capitalize on several opportunities on offense and dropped a 3-1 decision to Butte Central.

The Loggers' Brooke Hageness, pitching on a tender ankle - came within one out of a no-hitter, but six Libby errors saddled her with the loss.

"We were a little rusty coming out," Libby coach Dean Thompson said. "Our pitcher turned her ankle a little bit last week against Polson and she was favoring it a little bit. But she got stronger and stronger and wound up throwing a good game."

The Loggers had bases loaded, nobody out in the fifth inning, but only pushed one run across. They had runners on first and second with one out in the sixth but failed to score. Libby put runners on second and third with one out and loaded the bases with two outs but couldn't score in the seventh inning.

Butte Central, meanwhile, drew a leadoff walk in the second, moved up a base on a sacrifice, advanced to third on a groundout and scored on a wild pitch.

An inning later, another leadoff walk followed by a two-base error, a wild pitch to score a run and a sacrifice fly for another.

Three runs, no hits.

Libby plays Hamilton today at 11 a.m. A loss ends the Loggers' season, a win gets them a 3 p.m. game. Should Libby win that game, it would play again at 5 p.m.

"We're fine," Thompson said. "We have a long road to the championship, but we can do that."

Also on Thursday, Whitefish came out on the short end of an 8-3 score against Glendive. The Red Devils scored three runs in the top of the first and never trailed.

Tessa Kalfell, Sarah Vail, Desiree Clarke and Makayla Peck each had two hits for the Bulldogs, who play Corvallis today at 9 a.m. A win puts Whitefish in a 3 p.m. game; a second win means another game at 5 p.m. Another loss ends it all.