C-Falls, Libby romp in softball

The Daily Inter Lake

COLUMBIA FALLS - Columbia Falls hammered Browning pitching for 23 hits en route to a 34-0 Western A softball victory Friday.

Tia Yeager and Amanda Milliard both had four hits for the Wildkats. Amber James, 3-for-5, had five RBIs and Lindsay Nelson went 3-for-3.

Columbia Falls sent 16 batters to the plate in the first inning and scored 10 runs. In the fourth inning, the Wildkats had 20 batters and tallied 15 runs.

Columbia Falls, 5-2 overall and 3-2 in league, plays at Whitefish on Tuesday, 6 p.m.

Browning 000 00 - 0 4 9

Columbia Falls (10)54 (15)x - 34 23 0

Alyssa Hodson and Sheylin McKay; Drew Walters, Jessica Owens (4) and Amber James; W - Walters; L - Hodson.

Browning - Sarah Wolftail 1-3, Marissa Bremmer 1-2, Tiffany Sinclair 0-2, Corrina Gerzais 1-2, Kenzie Wellman 0-2, Hodson 1-1, McKay 0-2, Beisten Bellover 0-2, Ashlynn Fish 0-2.

Columbia Falls (5-2, 3-2) - Cedar Smith 2-6, Tia Yeager 4-7, Amanda Milliard 4-5, James 3-5, Walters 1-2, Mandy Toavs 1-2, Lindsay Nelson 3-3, Tessa Cowan 2-5, Owens 2-4, Michonne Cronquist 1-4.

2B-Wolftail; James (2), Nelson; RBIs-Smith (3), Yeager (3), Milliard (3), James (5), Walters (2), Toavs (2), Nelson (3), Cowan (3), Owens, Cronquist (3).

Libby 11, Whitefish 1

LIBBY - Brooke Hageness pitched the distance for Libby, allowing just one hit and no earned runs while going 4-for-4 from the plate with a home run.

Catcher Shelby Barton also had four hits for the Loggers, who improved to 6-0 in Western A play and 8-0 overall.

Hageness' solo blast came in the second inning, and Nicki Lapka provided the big blow with a two-run triple in the third. Lapka and Alysha Martin had two hits apiece.

"The top of our order hit real well," Libby coach Dean Thompson said. "Our top five hitters had all 13 hits."

Shannon Holmes singled for the Bulldogs' lone hit as Hageness improved to 7-0.

"She just kind of kept them on their toes and mixed her pitches up tonight, and they struggled to hit her," Thompson said.

The Loggers visit defending state champion Polson today in a showdown of Western A's undefeated squads.

"You've always got to bring your A-game when you play them," Thompson said. "I'm expecting it to be a great, close game all seven innings."

Whitefish 010 00 - 1 1 2

Libby 335 00 - 11 13 2

Torey Ost and Desiree Clarke. Brooke Hageness and Shelby Barton. W - Hageness (7-0). L - Ost.

WHITEFISH - Adele FauntLeRoy 0-2, Ost 0-0, Clarke 0-2, Shannon Holmes 1-2, Hailey Mortensen 0-2, Devyn Ost 0-2, Kristi Whisler 0-2, Taylor Ybarra-Brunty 0-2, Camille Williams 0-2.

LIBBY (8-0, 6-0) - Hageness 4-4, Barton 4-4, Nicki Lapka 2-3, Laice Dedrick 1-3, Alysha Martin 2-2, Jordan Refsland 0-3, Crystal Shriner 0-3, LaRona Lusher 0-1, Amber Grubham 0-1, Holly Cirian 0-3.

RBIs - WF 0, Lib. 10 (Lapka 3, Hageness 2, Barton 2, Dedrick 2, Martin). HR - WF 0, Lib. 1 (Hageness). 3B - WF 0, Lib. 1 (Lapka). 2B - WF 0, Lib. (Hageness, Barton).