My 2007 year in review

Part I

In the spirit of year-end

festivities, I've compiled a Top 10 list of games I covered for the Daily Inter Lake in 2007.

Due to space constraints, the list has to be broken down between two weeks. So look for my Top 5 next Monday.

No. 10

Wofford 23, Grizzlies 22

This game would be higher on the list had the score been reversed. As it was, it was still a great game with four lead changes and a tie.

Little ol' Wofford of South Carolina came into the chilly and snowy confines of Washington Grizzly Stadium on Nov. 24 and scored a 6-yard touchdown with 32 seconds left to defeat previously-unbeaten Montana in the first round of the playoffs.

UM's legendary senior kicker Dan Carpenter missed a 47-yard field goal wide left in the closing seconds. It was the final game for Kalispell's Lex Hilliard, who finished second on the all-time UM rushing yards list but first on the all-time TD list.

Carpenter is the Football Championship Subdivision's (formally I-AA) all-time scoring leader.

No. 9

Crazy summer weather

Less than 24 hours before a tornado touched down in Polson, the Kalispell Lakers' and Glacier Twins' Western AA American Legion baseball rivalry lived up to its billing at Griffin Field on July 18 under crazy lightning and then a much-needed constant downpour of rain.

In the end, after Glacier scored three runs in the top of the ninth inning to take an 8-6 lead, Derek Keller capped Kalispell's three-run rally by stealing home to end a 9-8 victory.

Glacier tied the game for the first time with one out in the top of the ninth when Rusty Hill blasted an RBI double to the right-field fence. Zane Ridings followed with a two-run single up the middle to put the game at 8-6.

No. 8

Youngsters sweep

big boys in 2

extra-inning games

Trailing 8-7 going into the bottom of the eighth inning of the first game on June 13 after the Libby American Legion baseball team scored a run in the top of the eighth, the Kalispell Lakers Class A team plated two runs for a walk-off victory.

Kalispell's Brian Sneck and Zach Brosten led off with back-to-back doubles to tie the game. Then with two outs, left-handed hitting Ryan Andrews blasted the first pitch he saw into a ground ball down the third-base line to knock in Brosten with the winning run.

In the second game, Kalispell's Ben Sansaver and Libby's Nate Peltier hurled a pitchers' duel and the defenses combined for just one error … until the bottom of the eighth. That's when Libby committed two errors and Andrews, who was pinch running for Brosten - who singled to start the inning - came around to score the walk-off run.

No. 7

Girls of spring

After a long, gray winter, the Flathead High School softball team opened its season on April 5 with a game featuring dominating pitching performances, great defensive plays, good baserunning with snap-snap plays and - most importantly - clutch hitting.

Flathead senior pitcher Brianna Compton had a no-hitter going into the sixth inning and senior all-state third baseman Christina Zorn broke open a 2-1 game with a two-run home run in the bottom of the sixth inning to help lead the Bravettes to a 4-2 Western AA victory over Missoula Sentinel.

No. 6

Northwestern A hoops' biggest game

The preseason favorite Libby High School boys' basketball team, which limped into the Northwestern A divisional tournament with a 5-7 conference record, knocked off two-time defending state champion and top-seeded Columbia Falls in an overtime thriller on Feb. 23, 65-55, in an undefeated semifinal in Whitefish.

Libby's Charlie May hit a 3-pointer with 41 seconds left to put the Loggers up 48-47 in the fourth. He got the following defensive rebound and found Jim Mee, who was fouled. Mee hit a free throw to put the Loggers up by two. Then with 1.7 seconds left, C-Falls' Kyle Jangula hit two free throws to force overtime.

That's when Libby senior forward Kyle Baker scored 10 of his 23 points.

Carl Hennell is a sports reporter for the Daily Inter Lake. He can be reached at 758-4446 or chennell@dailyinterlake.com