Polson snags another title

POLSON - It's the dream situation.

State championship game, bottom of the seventh, two outs, a runner on second base, so tired you can barely stand it - and trailing by one run.

Who wouldn't want to be at the plate?

The Polson Lady Pirate softball team had three seniors who all wanted to be there.

Trailing the Frenchtown Broncs 9-8 in the second championship game of the Class A state softball tournament Saturday afternoon, catcher Brittany Jones was the first to get the chance.

She was literally shaking in her shoes, but she took something with her that Pirate head coach Larry Smith had said earlier in the day.

"I guess in the last game Larry said something to me - to remember when I was a little girl, how I dreamed about this moment my whole life."

"I was scared out of my mind, but that kept running through my head," Jones said.

"I told her just rip the ball. And she did it," the coach smiled.

On the third pitch of her at-bat, Jones dropped a bloop single into right center field.

"I don't even think I saw (the pitch)," she laughed.

Standing on first base, "I couldn't breathe," she said.

Up next was shortstop Kyla McDonald, who was also very frightened.

"I didn't know what to do," she said.

When she looked at Smith in the third base coaches box, he calmly told her to "just hit the ball."

McDonald's shot to left center scored Benson and brought Jones' courtesy runner Caitlyn Vassar to third.

"I was so shocked, I was hyperventilating," she said.

While the crowd rocked with the new life, pitcher/outfielder Dylen Zetterberg sashayed to the plate - and ripped the first pitch she saw into left field.

Vassar raced home - and the celebration of the 10-9 victory was on.

The celebration was a mixture of joy, shocked disbelief and utter exhaustion.

Smith, after putting on a rare display of emotion, basked quietly in the moment.

"I wanted it so bad for this group of seniors. We've been through so much and so many games," he said.

"This is heavenly. Fantastic," he smiled.

After losing the first game of the tournament to Frenchtown, the Pirates spent the rest of the weekend with their backs to the wall - and wound up following in the footsteps of two of their predecessors.

The Pirate team of 2001 and 2002 also had to come through the consolation bracket to claim championships. The 2001 team had to win seven straight and the 2002 squad had to win six in a row.

This was Polson's fourth state championship.

After their loss Friday morning, the Pirates had pretty much put on a softball clinic. They won their next three games by 11, 12 and eight runs.

They came back Saturday with even more resolve, dispatching Corvallis 4-0 and Hamilton 6-3.

That put them into the championship - against Frenchtown. They not only had to beat the only team to beat them in the tournament, they had to do it twice.

They made it look easy in the first game as they breezed to a 12-2 victory.

It looked like Polson might make short work of the second game, too.

The game was tied at 1-all after three innings, but the Pirates appeared to break it wide open in the third. They scored five runs on four hits to go up 6-1.

But that's when all those games started to settle in.

The Pirates got tired. So did the Broncs, but they'd played one less game on Saturday.

"Extremely (tired)," Jones said.

"There are no words. It was extremely hot," she said. "I cannot believe we played eight straight games."

When that happened, the Pirate defense, so crisp in the other three games, slowed a hair.

The Broncs opened the fourth with two straight singles, followed by a three-run home run by Kali Bennett. They followed that with another single and a second home run by Kelly Engwall, this one a two-run shot.

Suddenly the championship looked more like a boxing match - two heavyweights, nearly too tired to stand, trading punches.

Polson scored two runs in the fourth to retake the lead. It held it until the sixth, when Frenchtown banged it's third homer of the game - a two-run shot by outfielder Lauren Lofts.

The only one not worried at that point was Smith.

He kept telling the Pirates they were the home team - they would bat last.

"I kept reminding them of that. These seniors wouldn't let (their younger teammates) get down," he added.

"As long as we've got a bat left, I don't worry about this bunch. If we've still got one at-left left, I feel confident we can get it done," he smiled.

Polson 4, Corvallis 0

Kyla McDonald was 2-for-4 and Dylen Zetterberg was 2-for-3 with two RBIs as the Pirates downed Corvallis 4-0 Saturday morning to stay alive in the tournament.

Polson scored one run in the first, then added two more in the third.

McDonald opened that inning with a single, then advanced to second on Zetterberg's sacrifice. But the Corvallis catcher overthrough first base - and Zetterberg danced between the bases while McDonald raced home.

Polson 6, Hamilton 3

The Pirates scored three runs in the bottom of the sixth to break open a 3-all tie.

The game ended badly for Hamilton pitcher Nicki Koning. With two outs and the bases loaded, Brittany Jones popped up. But Koning dropped the ball.

One run came in. The Bronc infield bobbled the next hit - and two more runs came home.

Until that moment, Koning had enjoyed an exception game - she allowed only five Polson hits, had struck out six Pirates and was 3-for-3 at the plate herself with two doubles.

Kendra Woldstad was 1-for-3 for Polson with a home run. Zetterberg was 1-for-3 with a triple.

Polson 12, Frenchtown 2

McDonald was 4-for-4 and scored three runs and Kendra Woldstad was 3-for-3 as the Pirates downed Frenchtown 12-2 in six innings in the first championship game.

The Pirates had 19 hits in that game.

First championship

Frenchtown 000 200 - 2 6 10

Polson 103 206 - 12 7 1

Holloron and Engwall. Zetteberg and Jones. W - Zetteberg. L - Holloron.

FRENCHTOWN - Duncan 1-3, Holloron 2-3, Lebsock 1-3, Russ 0-2, Kees 0-1, Engwall 0-3, Chapman 1-3, Lofts 0-3, Reed 1-2, Bennett 0-2.

POLSON - McDonald 1-4, Zetteberg 0-1, Rafter 1-2, Vandeberg 2-4, Newton 0-3, Wolstad 2-4, Benson 0-4, James 0-3, Jones 1-4.

RBIs-Lebsock, Chapman. Vandeberg 4, Zetteberg, Newton, Jones 2.

Second championship

Frenchtown 010 602 0 - 9 16 2

Polson 105 200 2 - 10 14 2

Mandy Holloron and Kelly Engwall. Dylen Zetteberg, Sarah Newton (4) and Brittany Jones. W - Newton. L - Holloron.

FRENCHTOWN - Alex Duncan 0-5, Holloron 2-4, Noelle Lebsock 1-5, Engwall 2-3, Jennifer Chapman 3-4, Lauren Lofts 2-4, Kelly Reed 2-4, Kristy Kees 1-4, Kali Bennett 3-4.

POLSON - Kyla McDonald 3-5, Zetteberg 3-5, Lindsey Rafter 2-4, Jaelin Vandeberg 1-4, Newton 1-4, Kendra Wolstad 1-4, Staci Benson 1-4, Amanda James 0-3, Lela Clairmont-Perez 0-1, Jones 1-3, Maggie Gordon 0-0.

2B-Reed. Benson. HR-Bennett, Engwall, Lofts. RBIs-Lofts 3, Bennett 3, Engwall 2, Lebsock. Vandeberg 2, Rafter 2, Wolstad, Benson, McDonald, Zetteberg.

Loser-takes-third

Hamilton 000 300 1 - 4 10 2

Polson 200 103 x - 6 6 0

Nicki Koning and Sarah Callaghan. Zetteberg and Jones. W - Zetteberg. L - Koning.

HAMILTON - Terry Bryan 1-4, Chelsey Krueger 2-4, Jessica Huseby 1-4, Rachell Wood 1-4, Callaghan 1-4, Koning 3-3, Kelly Lokken 1-3, Amanda Hood 0-2, Cierra Smith 0-3.

POLSON - McDonald 1-3, Zetteberg 1-3, Rafter 1-3, Vandeberg 0-3, James 1-3, Wolstad 1-2, Newton 0-2, Jones 0-3, Benson 1-3.

2B-Koning 2, Callaghan. Zetteberg. HR-Huseby. Wolstad. RBIs-Koning, Bryan 2, Huseby. Zetteberg, Rafter, Wolstad, Benson.

Undefeated game

Frenchtown 406 210 0 - 13 21 1

Hamilton 202 020 0 - 6 9 3

Holloron and Engwall. Koning and Callaghan. W - Holloron. L - Koning.

FRENCHTOWN - Duncan 4-5, Holloron 0-4, Lebsock 1-5, Engwall 1-5, Chapman 4-5, Lofts 3-5, Reed 4-5, Kees 3-4, Bennett 1-4.

HAMILTON - Bryan 0-3, Krueger 1-3, Huseby 2-4, Wood 2-4, Callaghan 2-3, Koning 2-4, Lokken 0-3, Hood 0-3, Smith 0-3.

2B-Chapman, Lofts. Huseby, Callaghan. HR-Reed. Wood, Huseby. RBIs-Lofts 2, Reed 2, Kees , Bennett 2, Duncan, Lebsock, Engwall, Holloron. Wood 2, Huseby 2, Lokken, Smith.

Loser takes fourth

Polson 102 010 0 - 4 5 0

Corvallis 000 000 0 - 0 3 0

Dylen Zetterberg and Sarah Newton. Kasie Conder and Sam Nelson. W - Zetterberg. L - Conder.

POLSON - Kyla McDonald 2-4, Zetterberg 2-3, Lindsey Rafter 0-1, Jaelin Vandeberg 0-3, Amanda James 0-3, Kendra Woldstad 0-3, Newton 0-3, Brit Jones 0-3, Staci Benson 1-3.

CORVALLIS - Brianna Brawley 0-2, Jessica Adair 0-3, Nelson 1-3, Conder 0-3, Markie Gurley 0-3, Megan Auch 1-3, Amber Bradshaw 0-3, Angie Henderson 1-3, Kylynn Pelke 0-3.

2B - Auch. RBIs - Zetterberg 2, Rafter, Vandeberg.