Bravettes hold off Hellgate rally

The Daily Inter Lake

MISSOULA - Talk about insurance runs.

Ahead 4-3 going into the seventh inning Tuesday against Missoula Hellgate, the Flathead High School softball team scored two insurance runs to take a 6-3 lead, and it turned out the Bravettes needed them.

The Knights scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning and had the game-tying run on third base, but Brianna Compton struck out the final batter of the game to send the Bravettes to their sixth straight win.

Compton, who signed a letter of intent Tuesday to play for Wenatchee Valley College in Washington, struck out seven in earning her eighth victory of the season.

The Bravettes improved to 9-1 in the Western AA and 10-2 overall but committed five errors.

"It was ugly," Flathead coach Dale Beerman said. "I don't know what the deal was. We were up 4-0, then 6-3 and then all of the sudden it was 6-5.

"I'm glad this happened, though. We had been sailing along for awhile and I'm glad we hit a bump in the road."

The Bravettes are back in action Thursday against Class A Libby in Libby. They travel to Butte on Saturday and could clinch Western AA's top seed with a victory.

Flathead 004 000 2 - 6 8 5

Hellgate 003 000 2 - 5 6 1

Brianna Compton and Julie Robertson. Ivy Zimmerman and Bonni Shaffer. W - Compton (8-1). L - Zimmerman.

FLATHEAD (9-1, 10-2) - Heather Haegele 1-4, Courtney Sverdrup 0-1, Compton 2-3, Lindsay Ingram 1-3, Christina Zorn 1-4, Hannah Vanek 0-4, Robertson 2-4, Leslie Quay 0-3, Jamie Graham 0-2.

HELLGATE - Kyla Kenny 1-3, Zimmerman 1-4, Shaffer 1-4, Sarah Hendricks 1-4, Beth McNeil 1-4, Lynea Adamson 0-2, D.J. Johnson 0-1, Katie Hendricks 0-4, Jordan Nelson 0-3, Mary Yoder 1-3.

RBIs - Ingram 3, Robertson 1. Kenny 2, Yoder 1, McNeil 1, Shaffer 1. 2B - Kenny, Shaffer. 3B - Ingram.

Columbia Falls 18, Eureka 8

EUREKA - The Wildkats avenged last month's loss at Columbia Falls, hammering the Lions in Western A play.

Eureka pitcher Amy Roberts held Columbia Falls to three hits April 10, but the Wildkats erupted for 21 Tuesday.

Columbia Falls catcher Amber James went 4-for-5 with three RBIs, followed by Drew Walter, Jenni Johnson and Kayla Stinger, who had three hits apiece.

Walter drove in four runs. Stinger and Amanda Richards drove in three each.

Johnson pitched the distance to earn the win.

The Wildkats led 3-1 after three innings, but the Lions committed eight errors.

"Columbia Falls is pretty solid," Eureka coach Tom Shay said. "We can't give up that many to anybody, let alone a team as solid as they are."

Columbia Falls' onslaught included just one extra-base hit - a double by Milliard.

"I've never seen anything like it," Shay said. "It was weird. They fight off every pitch and work your pitchers to death. There weren't many strikeouts."

Roberts paced the Lions with a two-run homer in the fifth inning.

Adrianna Lundberg, April Paden, Carly Hammond and Auna Lawler notched two hits apiece as Eureka dropped to 2-5 in conference play and 5-8 overall.

Columbia Falls 201 445 2 - 18 21 1

Eureka 001 232 0 - 8 13 8

Jenni Johnson and Amber James. Amy Roberts and Adrianna Lundberg. W - Johnson (NA). L - Roberts (5-8).

COLUMBIA FALLS (NA) - Amanda Milliard 2-6, Amanda Richards 1-4, Tia Yaeger 2-2, Vanesha Riley 2-4, Shay Grilley 1-2, James 4-5, Drew Walter 3-4, Kayla Stinger 3-4, Brittany White 0-5, Cedar Smith 0-5, Johnson 3-5.

EUREKA (5-8, 2-5) - Kat Baney 1-3, Adrianna Lundberg 2-4, April Paden 2-4, Amy Roberts 2-4, Catherine Wimbly 1-4, Carly Hammond 2-2, Auna Lawler 2-3, Jenna Swain 1-4, Ayries Blanck 0-4.

RBIs - CF 15 (Walter 4, Richards 3, James 3, Stinger 3, Riley 2), Eur. 6 (Roberts 2, Baney, Paden, Lawler, Swain). HR - CF 0, Eur. 1 (Roberts). 3B - CF 0, Eur. 1 (Hammond). 2B - CF 1 (Milliard), Eur. 1 (Lawler).