Wolfpack at Hellgate for AA softball playoffs
The Glacier softball team loves going to practice.
No, the Wolfpack don't relish bunt-coverage drills or conditioning. They just can't wait to hear which clich/ quote coach Joel Bemis will recite before their workout.
Tuesday's idiom, from a source Bemis can't recall, was the Wolfpack's favorite so far: "Some people follow their dreams, while others hunt them down and mercilessly beat them into submission."
The line yielded its intended laughs, but Bemis meant what he read. Glacier visits Missoula Hellgate at 1 p.m. today for a best-of-three Western AA playoff series, looking to earn a state tournament berth in its inaugural season.
Glacier's first goal was to win five games. The Wolfpack have won seven while going 6-6 in conference play to tie Hellgate for fourth place.
The program's second goal was to reach the state tournament - eventually.
"Our girls see how close we are," Bemis said. "If we can win two games, we're in the state tournament.
"It's good to have goals, but we want to go reach them now. We want to go grab them. They're within our reach."
The Wolfpack went 1-2 against Hellgate in the regular season, splitting two conference games. Each contest was decided by one run, including Glacier's 6-5 victory on May 3.
Freshman pitcher Jessie Compton, who will pitch today's opener, had 12 strikeouts in Glacier's 1-0 conference loss, but Hellgate's DJ Johnson hurled a three-hit shutout.
The Wolfpack racked up 14 hits in their win, including three by catcher Brittany Franklin and two apiece by Abby Connolly, Lindsey Hoffenbacker and Sabrina Kenfield.
"It's going to be a great matchup with those guys," Bemis said. "We've played some real close games with them, and all three of those games had a feel like they could go either way."
The Knights have three seniors and seven juniors on their roster, while the Wolfpack have no seniors and are comprised mostly of underclassmen.
"There's no pressure on these girls at all," Bemis said.
"They've kind of just looked around and said, 'Why be pressured? We already feel like we've come a long way from the beginning of the year.'"
A freshman, Franklin leads the Wolfpack with a .460 batting average. Sophomore Hoffenbacker (.388) and freshman Megan Connolly (.339) are next. Sophomore Abby Connolly has a team-high 13 RBIs from the cleanup slot.
Freshman Kendra Bouley likely will pitch the second game for Glacier.
Bemis said the Wolfpack's strong work habits enabled their late-season surge, which is why he capped Tuesday's cheesy passage with a sincere message.
"Don't just have this goal and have this dream," he said. "Have a cool confidence, and play like you know you can.
"When you work hard, good things happen."