Libby squeezes out 2 victories
POLSON - It wouldn't be spring without high school softball.
And it wouldn't be high school softball without a little liquid sunshine.
A little rain Thursday would have been fine. But instead, the heavens positively opened on the Class A State Softball Tournament. The first drops fell early, then cleared away. But what followed could only be described as a deluge. Two scheduled games and part of a third were washed away.
When the last of the diehard fans were finally run off, the Libby Loggers were the day's big winners.
The Loggers, who entered the tournament as the No. 3 team from the West, survived Billings Central in the first game, 8-7, then downed Laurel 3-1 in what was supposed to be a 3 p.m. contest - and wound up as the nightcap.
Columbia Falls won it's first contest, 9-3 over Sidney, but was trailing Hamilton 10-2 when the
contest was called in the sixth inning - at about 7:30 p.m.
Two teams - Polson and Corvallis - never made it onto the field.
Today's schedule should be as follows: Columbia Falls and Hamilton will finish up at 8 a.m. The winner will play Libby at 1 p.m., while the loser will have to turn around and play Belgrade at 9 a.m.
Polson and Corvallis each waited all day Thursday to play - and got nothing for their time. In order to get the tournament back on schedule, a third field will be opened up at the Polson softball complex.
Polson will take on Frenchtown and Corvallis will play Butte Central. Both those games are scheduled for 9 a.m.
The game of the day was the rematch of last year's Class A state championship game - Libby versus the Laurel Locomotives.
The Loggers rallied from a 1-0 deficit with one run in the top of the sixth and two more in the top of seventh.
But the story of the day was junior outfielder Holly Cirian.
According to Libby head coach Dean Thompson, Cirian injured her knee last year during basketball.
But she wanted to be part of the softball team so badly that she spent last spring as the team manager.
"Now she's worked her way in," the coach said.
On Thursday, Cirian got her chance to be a heroine. She came to the plate as Libby's No. 9 batter in the seventh inning. The situation was just about perect, the score tied at 1-all, two outs and a runner on second base.
"I really wanted to hit the ball. That was my main thing, just to get it out there," she said. "It was my first good hit of today," she said.
She ripped a 1-1 pitch between first base and center to double in the go-ahead run.
"She's been doing that for us all year - one way or another," Thompson said. "That's a great play for her."
Pitcher Brooke Hageness followed that with a double of her own to score Cirian.
Thompson gave the credit for the win to Hageness for her pitching - and the rest of the Loggers for their defense.
Hageness and the Logger defense were perfect through the first three innings. She finished up with seven strikeouts. She hit one batter and walked two.
"Brooke throws well. She knows she's got a great defense behind her. She's been pitching here since she was a freshman. She has good confidence.
"Our defense, it's not a one-person team. It's a team-team," the coach said. "Every one of them came through.
"Everybody did something to help us win the game."
Libby 8,
Billings Central 7
The Loggers scored four runs in the top of the fourth to take a 7-2 lead over the Rams, but handed back five runs before finally scratching out the win.
"First game - we had a little bit of jitters," Thompson said.
"They ran the bases really well," he said of the Rams.
"Where we had errors, they came through and had hits after them," he said.
"But we hit the ball - from No. 1 to No. 9, we put the ball in play."
Columbia Falls 9,
Sidney 3
The Wildkats jumped to a 4-1 lead, then let Sidney back into the contest before finally slamming the door on a victory.
But it took a bases loaded, two-out double from Brittany White to get the job done.
"That was a great hit," said Columbia Falls coach Dave Kehr.
"Good game. Great game," he said.
"Sidney's a good team, hits well. We kept them off balance with our pitching. It was a good effort all around."
Class A State Softball
Thursday at Polson
Game 1
Columbia Falls 130 230 0 - 9 13 1
Sidney 000 300 0 - 3 10 2
Jennie Johnson and Amber James; Netale Roth and Amanda VanEvery. W - Johnson. L - Roth.
Columbia Falls - Amanda Millard 3-4, Lindsey Nelson 1-4, Vanesha Riley 1-4, James 3-4, Drew Walter 2-4, Kayla Stinger 1-4, Brittany White 1-4, Sami Venezio 1-4, Cedar Smith 0-3.
Sidney - Kayla Fritz 1-3, Amanda Lorenz 1-4, Lexi Buxbaum 2-4, Roth 2-4, Jen Nielson 1-4, Kristy Obergfell 0-2, Shevon Lorenz 0-3, Meghan Feuhlauer 1-2, VanEvery 2-3.
2B-Millard, Riley, James, White; RBIs - Riley, James, Walter, White (2).
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Game 2
Libby 201 410 0 - 8 12 1
Billings Central 200 202 1 - 7 8 0
Brooke Hageness and Shelby Barton; Ashley Corcoran and Brianne Rummel. W - Hageness.
Libby - Hageness 2-4, Nickole Lapka 2-4, Barton 2-4, Laice Dedrick 2-4, Megan Wedel 2-4, McKenzi Grotjohn 2-4, Sami Freebury 0-4, Christina Shilling 0-4, Holly Cirian 0-3.
Billings Central - Danielle Martinson 2-4, Erynn Burke 0-2, Rummel 2-4, Megan Smith 0-4, Beth Vogel 1-4, Shae Chilton 1-4, Amber Uzelac 1-3, Austin Hanser 1-3.
2B-Hageness, Lapka, Barton, Dedrick; Martinson (2), Chilton, Hanser; 3B-Grotjohn; RBIs - Hageness, Lapka, Dedrick
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Game 3
Butte Central 014 000 2 - 7 9 2
Belgrade 101 011 0 - 4 10 1
Pitching/catching not available
Butte Central - Brooke Pokorny 0-4, Kylie Orizotti 2-4, Kelci Thatcher 2-4, Amber Orizotti 1-2, Kelli O'Leary 0-1, Kacey Daily 3-4, Saidee Johnston 1-2, Julie Lally 0-4, Hannah Manion 0-3, Marissa Peoples 0-1.
Belgrade - Kelsey Foster 3-3, Lauren Torres 1-3, Megan Bell 1-3, Krista Howard 3-3, Stephanie Livermore 1-4, Brittney Markham 0-3, Carissa Erickson 0-3, Jillian Gue 0-3, Brittany Larsen 1-2.
2B - K. Orizotti; Howard; 3B - Daily; RBIs - A. Orizotti (2), Daily, Johnston; Foster, Livermore.
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Game 5
Havre 101 001 0 - 3 3 2
Frenchtown 200 321 0 - 8 4 2
Pitching/catching not available
Havre - Holly Cartright 1-4, Karly Evans 0-3, Samantha Mack 0-2, Steph Stremcha 0-0, Katie McLeod 0-3, Erika Briese 1-2, Tereyl Shrauger 0-3, Tiffany Ranes 1-3, Stacy Sheppard 1-3, Tabby Myers 0-2.
Frenchtown - Alex Duncan 3-4, Mandy Holloran 0-2, Noelle Lebsock 3-4, Shelby Russ 0-4, Kelly Engwall 1-3, Jennifer Chapman 1-3, Loren Loffs 1-3, Kelly Reed 1-2, Kali Bennet 0-2, Kristy Kels 0-1.
2B-Cartright; Lebsock, Chapman; HRs-Lebsock, Loffs; RBIs-Duncan, Lebsock, Loffs (3).
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Game 6
Libby 000 001 2 - 3 7 0
Laurel 000 100 0 - 1 5 0
Brooke Hageness and Shelby Barton; Kirby Myers and Caitlyn Caron. W - Hageness. L - Myers.
Libby - Hageness 2-4, Nickole Lapka 1-4, Barton 1-3, Laice Dedrick 1-3, Megan Wedel 0-3, McKenzi Grotjohn 1-3, Sami Freebury 0-3, Christina Shilling 1-3, Holly Cirian 0-2.
Laurel - Olivia Heidinger 0-1, Katie Michunovich 1-3, Tiff Thomas 1-2, Brittney Ceaser 1-2, Myers 1-2, Caitlin Bummen 0-3, Caron 0-3, Jena Reisinger 0-3, Brittney Sterna 1-3.
2B-Hageness, Barton, Dedrick, Cirian; 3B-Sterna; RBIs-Hageness, Barton, Dedrick, Cirian.