Polson blanks Columbia Falls

The Daily Inter Lake

COLUMBIA FALLS - Polson's power at the plate and on the mound were just too much for the Columbia Falls Wildkats on Thursday. The Pirates won, 7-0.

Columbia Falls kept it close through four innings, but Polson's three runs in the fifth drove it to a 4-0 lead.

"I thought it might start to slip after that, but they never really blew the game out," Wildkat coach Dave Kehr said. "It was probably a closer game than the score showed."

Of course, five errors by the Wildkats didn't help their cause much, especially when scoring runs on Polson's Dylan Zetterberg doesn't come easy.

"She's a tough pitcher," Kehr said. "She has a lot of different pitches."

Wildkat pitcher Jennie Johnson had a strong performance, throwing five strikouts.

Columbia Falls (4-4) travels to Frenchtown today for two days of tournament play.

PIRATES 7, WILDKATS 0

Polson 001 031 2 - 7 9 1

Columbia Falls 000 000 0 - 0 3 5

Jennie Johnson and Amber James. Dylan Zetterberg (Sarah Newton 6) and Brittany Jones. W - Zetterberg. L - Johnson (3-4)

Polson - Kyla McDonald 1-4, Dylan Zetterberg 1-4; Lindsey Rafter 1-4, Jaelin Vandeberg 0-4, Amanda James 3-4, Brittany Jones 1-2, Nicole Brasher 1-4, Kendra Woldstad 0-3, Natesh Arlint 1-3, Sarah Newton 0-1.

Columbia Falls - Sam Venezio 1-3, Tia Yeager 0-3, Vanesha Riley 0-3, Brittany White 0-3, Kayla Stinger 0-3, Amanda Millard 1-2, Amber James 1-3, Brandy Rowe 0-3, Cedar Smith 0-2.

2B - Rafter, A. James 2, Brasher. RBI - Polson 6 (McDonald, L. Rafter 2, A. James 2, B. Jones)

Ronan 6, Whitefish 5

RONAN - Whitefish gave up three runs on four errors in the first inning, and Ronan won the softball game in eight innings on Thursday.

"That's what did us in," Whitefish assistant coach Clifford Lewis said. "Take that inning away, and we've got the win."

The Maidens jumped out to a 4-1 lead after the first inning, but the Bulldogs chipped away at the lead one run at a time to tie the game in the fifth. Whitefish even took the lead in the seventh, but Ronan earned a run to send the game into extra innings.

"Our bats came alive after the first inning," Lewis said. "We hit the ball really well. We just couldn't score when we had runners in scoring position. We just couldn't connect then."

Whitefish's inability to take advantage of scoring opportunities proved costly in the eighth. The Bulldogs loaded the bases, but weren't able to capitalize.

When it was Ronan's turn at the plate, the Maidens also loaded the bases with just one out and scored the game winner on a deep fly to the outfield.

Whitefish is in action today and Saturday for the Frenchtown tournament.

MAIDENS 6, BULLDOGS 5, 8 innings

Whitefish 101 110 10 - 5 11 5

Ronan 400 010 11 - 7 4 0

Alana Morris and Desiree Clark. K. Larson and J. Strozzi. W - Larson. L - Morris.

Whitefish - Alana Morris 2-5, Kilani Morris 1-3, D. Clark 3-4, Devyn Ost 2-4, Tianna Thomas 2-3, Camille Williams 1-4, Brandy Clark 0-3, Maude Gwiazdon 0-2, Nicole Schelling 0-2, Taylor Brunty 0-2.

Ronan - L. Lynch 1-2, K. Clairmont 0-3, C. Starkel 1-4, J. Strozzi 3-4, K. Larson 1-2, B. Bilie 0-2, A. Soukup 1-3, K. Sorrell 0-3, K. Cordier 0-3.

2B - A. Morris, K. Morris, D. Clark. 3B - L. Lynch. RBI: R - 1 (K. Larson). W - 3 (Ost, Gwiazdon, Williams)