Bravettes bounce back, split

By GREG SCHINDLER/The Daily Inter Lake

The Bravettes' seesaw season is back on the upswing.

Flathead split a Western AA home softball doubleheader with Missoula Big Sky and Missoula Sentinel on Thursday, evening its conference record at 4-4 with four league games remaining.

The Bravettes (7-7 overall) scuffled through a 5-0 loss to the league heavyweight Eagles before rolling to a 9-2 victory over the struggling Spartans.

Flathead continues its crucial conference homestand Saturday, hosting Helena High and Helena Capital.

Big Sky 5, Flathead 0

Coach Dale Beerman had no trouble spelling out the Bravettes' woes.

"H-i-t," he said. "None."

Actually, Flathead managed three hits, including a pair of singles by senior catcher Alanna Handford, but the Bravettes advanced just two runners beyond first base after Big Sky's game-breaking second inning.

After a solo homer by Big Sky catcher Kelsey LaVaute, Flathead junior pitcher Meagan Hash appeared to escape trouble when she fanned Murray Taylor with two runners aboard. Taylor's punch-out should have ended the inning, but Taylor reached first on a dropped third strike, loading the bases. Brigget Plenger walked to make it 2-0 before Shelby Quamme capped the damage with a three-run double to left.

"They had one earned run, so we beat ourselves," Beerman said. "Mental errors."

Hash, who allowed just four hits, cruised the rest of the way, keeping the Eagles in check despite five Flathead errors.

Christy Selway pitched the distance for Big Sky (10-3, 6-1 conference), tallying six strikeouts and a walk.

"She's been working really hard … on standing back and throwing the ball hard," Big Sky coach Dennis Staves said. "She was getting in the habit of trying to guide the ball a little bit.

"We've been working on her, just trying to get her to rock back and fire, and she did it tonight."

Junior shortstop Becca Felde doubled to left in the third inning for Flathead's lone extra-base hit.

"We just didn't swing the bat," Beerman said. "So, our practices the rest of the year will be 99.9 percent hitting, and that's how it's gonna be."

Staves can sympathize with Beerman. Big Sky went hitless over the final three frames, collecting just one knock after the second inning.

"They make us old men older when they can't score some runs," he said.

Big Sky 050 000 0 - 5 4 0

Flathead 000 000 0 - 0 3 5

Christy Selway and Kelsey LaVaute. Meagan Hash and Alanna Handford. W - Selway. L - Hash.

BIG SKY (10-3, 6-1) - Briggett Plenger 0-3, Shelby Quamme 2-4, Selway 0-4, Sarah Lustgraaf 0-4, LaVaute 1-3, Kaila Wagener 1-3, Katelyn Kropp 0-3, Ashley O'Reilly 0-3, Murray Taylor 0-3.

FLATHEAD (6-7, 3-4) - Heather Haegele 0-3, Hash 0-3, Kendra Bennett 0-3, Shaina Evans 0-2, Handford 2-3, Anna Costa 0-3, Justine Hayes 0-3, Becca Felde 1-1, Catie Costa 0-1, Emily Jones 0-2.

RBIs - BS 5 (Quamme 3, Plenger, LaVaute), Fla. 0. HR - BS 1 (LaVaute), Fla. 0. 2B - BS 1 (Quamme), Fla. 1 (Felde).

Flathead 9, Sentinel 2

With Flathead's scoreless drought at 12 innings, Meagan Hash started the run parade early. Her fellow Bravettes were happy to follow along.

A junior pitcher, Hash had a pair of RBI singles to pace Flathead's offensive onslaught, which included seven hits, seven walks and six stolen bases.

Hash's first-inning knock to right field scored senior leadoff hitter Heather Haegele, tying the game at 1. The RBI marked Hash's first run support in three outings, and the Bravettes were just warming up.

Flathead capped its four-run first frame with a sacrifice fly by junior shortstop Becca Felde, who matched Hash with a pair of RBIs. The Bravettes added runs in each of the next three innings, building a 9-2 cushion after four.

The winless Spartans (0-14, 0-8 conference) managed nine hits of their own and never went down in order, but Hash, backed by Flathead's error-free defense, pitched out of jams with 10 strikeouts, including six in the last three innings.

"To be able to pitch well and bat well was a good thing for me today, at least in the second game," Hash said.

"It was really nice to have a solid defense, and we really worked the corners today, so that definitely contributed to strikeouts."

Flathead scored three runs in the third inning, highlighted by senior right fielder Justine Hayes' screaming RBI single up the middle.

"That was a little better," Bravettes coach Dale Beerman said. "I just wish they could do that all the time - the zero errors and then the nine runs."

Haegele, senior left fielder Shaina Evans, Felde and junior first baseman Hanna Burton all singled for Flathead, while Haegele and Hash each swiped two bases.

Sentinel's Baylee Jolliffe, Katie Focher and Natalie Egan had two hits apiece, but Hash held the Spartans to a pair of singles after the fourth inning.

"She threw good today, she hit the ball well today," Beerman said. "She's getting grittier.

"She's getting that mental toughness, and now she's finishing the seventh inning off. Boom, she just gets in there and finishes it, which is good.

"Not only Megan's doing a good job, but (senior Alanna Handford) has caught every game, too … so you've got to give her some credit. And she's getting better with her blocking."

With the Bravettes wedged in the middle of the Western AA standings, Beerman knows their final four conference showdowns - all in Kalispell, including a visit to 4-4 Glacier - are immensely important to their playoff seeding.

"We can go up from the middle or down to the bottom real quick," he said.

Sentinel 110 000 0 - 2 9 6

Flathead 413 100 x - 9 7 0

Katie Focher and Morgan Gray. Meagan Hash and Alanna Handford. W - Hash. L - Focher.

SENTINEL (0-14, 0-8) - Baylee Jolliffe 2-4, Aleisha Gornick 0-3, Callie Moothart 0-1, Kara Landolfi 1-2, Focher 2-4, Katie Kostelecky 0-4, Gray 1-4, Sarah Beccari 1-3, Libby Steigers 0-2, Riliey Cullip 0-1, Natalie Egan 2-2.

FLATHEAD (7-7, 4-4) - Heather Haegele 1-4, Hash 2-3, Kendra Bennett 0-2, Handford 0-3, Shaina Evans 1-3, Becca Felde 1-2, Justine Hayes 1-4, Hanna Burton 1-3, Anna Costa 0-1, Casey Roylston 0-1.

RBIs - Sen. 1 (Jolliffe), Fla. 5 (Hash 2, Felde 2, Hayes). 2B - Sen. 2 (Focher, Gray), Fla. 0. SB - Sen. 0, Fla. 6 (Haegele 2, Hash 2, Felde, Hayes). SAC - Sen. 0, Fla. 3 (Felde 2, Costa).