Bravettes storm over Senior

Butte, Billings West also advance at State AA softball tourney

The girls got to play in the mud and the muck and came away giggling and cold.

The Flathead High School girls softball team barely completed its opening-round game of the State Class AA Softball Tournament because of the downpour Thursday evening.

Drenched and freezing, the Bravettes hightailed it out of the Conrad Complex with a 5-1 victory over Billings Senior tucked under their coats.

"We've played in rain before, but it was really hard to throw the ball in this," Flathead all-state center fielder Heather Haegele said. "My hands are freezing. It's cold."

On an adjacent diamond, Great Falls C.M. Russell and Missoula Big Sky were unable to complete their game. At the same time Flathead's game ended, the CMR-Big Sky umpires determined their field was too flooded to continue. Their game will resume today, weather permitting, at 8:30 a.m. with CMR ahead, 7-3, in the bottom of the fourth inning and a runner at second.

In the two early games, Butte beat Billings Skyview, 4-3, and Billings West 10-runned the No. 1 seed from the West - Helena Capital - 13-3 in five innings.

The winner of the CMR-Big Sky game will play Flathead (15-5) immediately afterward for a berth into the undefeated semifinal game. Billings West (16-8) will play Butte (18-6) in the other winners' bracket game. Those games were slated for 10 a.m., but field conditions could push all games back.

The first round of the losers' bracket is scheduled to start at noon with Capital (15-5) playing Skyview (10-11) and Senior (12-10) playing the loser of the CMR-Big Sky game.

After the noon games, two more loser-out games are scheduled to start at 2 p.m. with the winners playing each other at 4 p.m. The undefeated semifinal is supposed to start at 4 p.m. as well.

Flathead 5, Billings Senior 1

Had the downpour not came, pitcher Brianna Compton would have pitched a one-hit shutout.

As it was, she earned a two-hit, complete-game victory with seven strikeouts for her 10th win of the season.

"Oh my goodness, that took a lot of mental toughness," Compton said. "I had an advantage over the hitters, maybe not so much because of the conditions but because we were calling the

pitches right. We had them really messed up and off-balance. We kept mixing it up. We didn't call too many fastballs or too many rise balls or too many drops or too many changes. We just mixed them up really well and they didn't know what was coming."

Courtney Sverdrup's RBI single and hustle in the second inning proved all the offense the Bravettes would need.

With two outs, Christina Zorn on third and Hannah Vanek on first, Sverdrup hit a ground ball between third base and shortstop to plate Zorn. But on the throw to third base behind Vanek, Sverdrup took off for second base and the ensuing throw ended up in the right field. The junior shortstop, along with Vanek, came all the way around to score.

"I saw them standing around with the ball instead of throwing it back to the circle, so I took off to second," Sverdrup said. "I don't know if they didn't make the best of throws or I messed them up, but I ended up rounding second, rounding third and ended up at home."

The Bravettes got just four hits off of Senior pitcher LeeAnn Anthony, but three of them were clutch. She finished with eight strikeouts.

"She was really tough to hit off of," Sverdrup said. "She was doing a really good job of keeping us off-balance with her pitches."

Ahead 3-1 in the bottom of the fifth inning, Haegele - who made an amazing, all-out diving catch in the second inning - smashed a line drive RBI triple to dead center field.

"It was the first pitch, high and kind of outside," Haegele said. "I liked the pitch and smacked it."

Kalin Lingle followed her with an RBI infield single to put the score at its final margin as Compton allowed just an infield single in the muck and a hit batter the rest of the way.

"I felt great out there," Compton said. "I ran like three laps today so I was rearing to go. We played awesome. We played as a team. It was awesome."

Senior 000 010 0 - 1 2 1

Flathead 030 020 x - 5 4 2

LeeAnn Anthony and Casey Kennedy. Brianna Compton and Julie Robertson. W - Compton (10-3). L - Anthony.

SENIOR (12-10) - Kylie Kufeld 0-3, Hannah Stroebe 1-2, Cassie Degner 0-3, Anthony 0-3, Jayme Newell 0-3, Courtney Gopp 1-2, Hannah Roberts 0-3, Chalice Stroebe 0-3, Kennedy 0-1.

FLATHEAD (15-5) - Heather Haegele 1-2, Kalin Lingle 1-2, Compton 0-2, Lindsay Ingram 0-2, Christina Zorn 0-2, Hannah Vanek 1-2, Leslie Quay 0-2, Robertson 0-3, Courtney Sverdrup 1-1.

RBIs - Senior 1 (C. Stroebe), Flathead 3 (Sverdrup, Haegele, Lingle). 3B - Senior 0, Flathead 1 (Haegele). 2B - Senior 1 (Gopp), Flathead 0. SAC - Senior 0, Flathead 3 (Lingle, Quay, Compton). SB - Senior 1 (Gopp), Flathead 0.

Butte 4,

Billings Skyview 3

Tied 2-2 in the top of the sixth inning, Butte sophomores Rebekah Gibson and Julia Robinson hit back-to-back home runs and pitcher Darcy Powers got herself out of jams in the final two innings to advance the Bulldogs.

"That was nerve-racking towards the end," Gibson said.

Although Skyview out-hit the Bulldogs, 11-5, the long balls with one out in the sixth proved the difference.

"I can't remember what the count was, but I had a strike on me and she gave me a fastball a little bit outside," said Gibson of her fifth homer of the season. "I had a feeling it was gone right away, but I wasn't sure. It went to dead center. I was halfway down the baseline when (coach) Pat Worrell told me to slow down. So that's when I realized it was gone."

Gibson followed Ali Stosich's crush to right field that was nearly out. But it was Robinson's seventh dinger of the season that was the eventual game winner.

"It was a 1-0 pitch and it was a meat ball," Robinson said. "I pulled it to left field and it went really high so I thought it was going to be a pop fly."

Gibson and Robinson each had two hits, but the rest of the Bulldogs struggled.

"We struggled at the plate," Butte coach Steve Stosich said. "We didn't hit well. We are a good .320 team and we didn't hit well. This pitcher, we should have hit her a lot better. I don't know what it was. Maybe the first tournament game."

Skyview's Amanda Todd, Kelsie Keeling, Lindsay Stoltz and Lynae Lorenz each had two hits in the loss. Three of them had doubles.

"Darcy (Powers) threw well, but she got behind a lot of times on batters and they took advantage of it," Stosich said. "They got a handful of doubles off her. But she sucked it up out there, like she has all year, and got the job done. (Catcher) Ali (Stosich) calls the games and they've been playing together a lot of years. So Ali knows her temperament and does a good job handling the game."

Powers finished with nine strikeouts and no walks, while her defense committed no errors, in improving to 12-4 on the season.

Lorenz got Skyview's RBI in the sixth and the Falcons had runners on second and third with one out before Powers induced two easy groundouts. Then in the bottom of the seventh inning, Kate Brew had a two-out single to put the tying run on third base, but she was picked off of first base after the hit to end the game.

Butte 020 002 0 - 4 5 0

Skyview 011 001 0 - 3 11 2

Darcy Powers and Ali Stosich. Kelsey Miller and Chelsey Wharton. W - Powers (12-4). L - Miller.

BUTTE (18-6) - Megan Holland 0-4, McKensie Dallaserra 0-4, Stosich 0-3, Rebekah Gibson 2-3, Julia Robinson 2-2, Marianne Leathers 0-2, Jessica Young 0-3, Amy Sullivan 1-2, Rebecca Loberg 0-3.

SKYVIEW (10-11) - Amanda Todd 2-4, Paula Davies 0-2, Nicole Miller 0-1, Kate Brew 1-4, Kelsie Keeling 2-3, Lindsay Stoltz 2-3, Lynae Lorenz 2-3, K. Miller 0-3, Erin Thompson 0-3, Wharton 1-2, Bridget McCartney 1-1.

RBIs - Butte 2 (Gibson, Robinson), Skyview 3 (Lorenz 2, Keeling). HR - Butte 2 (Gibson, Robinson), Skyview 0. 2B - Butte 0, Skyview 3 (Lorenz, Stoltz, Todd). SAC - Butte 1 (Leathers), Skyview 1 (Davis).

Billings West 13,

Helena Capital 3 (5)

It was out of hand in a hurry.

Billings West sent all nine batters to the plate in the first inning and No. 8 hitter Jayme Clark highlighted the six-run first with a grand slam.

"That was my third one of the year, but my first grand slam," said Clark, who also hit an RBI double. "It was an 0-2 pitch and she threw me kind of an off-speed pitch. It was pretty low and I don't know how I got a hold of it like I did, but I crushed it over center field. It felt really good. I hit one my last game too, so I'm on a roll."

The Golden Bears added three more runs in the second inning to take a 9-0 lead and pitcher Kelsey Jones put it on cruise control, scattering seven hits.

"Her (Jones') ball was moving really well," West catcher Allyson Peterson said. "She was really confident in her pitches and the defense was good and she pitches so much better when she knows the defense is geared up. She pitched well, but it was nothing different. It was just that we were hitting the ball. We crushed it today."

Jones finished with 10 strikeouts.

"I liked my curve ball and my screwball today," she said. "The curve goes outside on hitters and the screwball goes inside into the hitter's hands. But our defense played so good. We just finally put it all together. Nobody was fighting. There was no drama. Everybody played the sweetest game they could have played. It was awesome."

West's Amanda Crennen added two hits and three RBIs in the victory.

"We can play ball with anybody, especially if our kids are hitting the ball like they did," West coach Ed Kriskovich said. "I wasn't a surprised with the first couple of innings. There isn't a kid in our lineup that can't put the ball over the fence."

Capital tried to mount a comeback, scoring three straight runs in the second and third innings, but West's lead was too much.

"They were just tougher than us today," Capital coach Mike Miller said. "We didn't play horrible. They were just more ready and hit the heck out of us. (Pitcher Ashley Ames) didn't have her best stuff, she's been battling the flu a little bit. But I hate making excuses. They hit the ball. We just got off to a tough start."

West 630 04 - 13 11 1

Capital 021 00 - 3 6 2

Kelsey Jones and Allyson Peterson; Ashley Ames, Lindsay Cline (5) and Kalli Heller. W - Jones (10-3). L - Ames.

WEST (16-8) - Ali Walen 2-4, Katy Compton 0-3, Brittany Fox 1-1, Amanda McCormack 2-4, Kaitlyn Frank 1-2, Amanda Crennen 2-4, Peterson 0-2, Jones 0-3, Jayme Clark 2-3, Heather Staus 1-3.

CAPITAL (15-5) - Shannon Furlong 0-3, Halie Hash 1-3, Kelsey Brekke 1-3, Cline 1-1, Heller 1-3, Jordyn Gillespie 1-3, Jacie Vonada 0-3, Mo Donnell 1-2, Ames 1-2.

RBIs - West 9 (Clark 5, Crennen 3, Frank), Capital 3 (Donnell 2, Cline). HR - West 1 (Clark), Capital 0. 2B - West 2 (McCormack, Clark), Capital 1 (Gillespie).

CMR 7,

Missoula Big Sky 3

The game will resume with CMR's Becca Frank on second base, after hitting her second double and third RBI of the game, in the bottom of the fourth inning.

The junior shortstop is 3-for-3 in the game with a two-run home run, which she hit in the first inning to cut into Big Sky's 3-0 lead.

The Eagles' first three batters of the game walked before Sarah Horst and Sarah Lustgraaf hit run-scoring hits.

Trailing 3-2, Amanda Morris hit a three-run homer over the left field fence in the third inning to give the Rustlers (17-3) their first lead.

The home runs were Frank's eighth and Morris' sixth of the season. The Rustlers set a new team record with 37 dingers on the season.

Sophomore pitcher Brittany Allen relieved CMR starter Kira Bigler in the first inning and pitched three scoreless innings. Big Sky (11-12) has just three hits in the game.

Big Sky 300 0 - 3 3 1

CMR 203 2 - 7 8 0

Christy Selway and Sarah Horst. Kira Bigler, Brittany Allen (1) and Maghan Yurek.

BIG SKY - Ashley O'Reilly 0-2, Shelby Zentner 0-1, Briggett Plenger 0-1, Sarah Horst 1-1, Sarah Lustgraaf 1-2, Christy Selway 0-2, Shelby Quamme 1-2, Rachel White 0-1, Murray Taylor 0-1.

CMR - Bobbie Lee 2-3, Hayley Miller 0-2, Becca Frank 3-3, Maghan Yurek 0-1, Amanda Morris 1-2, Jill Zeren 0-2, Kelsey Lowry 1-2, Cassidy Palagi 1-1, Ashley Keeler 0-2.

RBIs - Big Sky 3 (Lustgraaf 2, Horst), CMR 7 (Morris 3, Frank 3, Lee). HR - Big Sky 0, CMR 2 (Frank, Morris). 2B - Big Sky 0, CMR 2 (Frank 2).