Glacier gains split; Flathead drops 2

The Daily Inter Lake

After a tough 8-5 setback at the hands of Missoula Big Sky, the day ended on a positive note for Glacier's softball team.

The Wolfpack ripped Missoula Sentinel pitching for 13 hits, had two four-run innings and a three-run fourth en route to a wild 12-9 Western AA victory.

The home split leaves Glacier at 1-2 in league action, 2-3 overall.

"Pretty pleased with the way we hit the ball, especially the second game," Glacier coach Joel Bemis said.

"It was an offensive battle with Sentinel, a lot of back and forth. We got hits when we needed them."

Lindsey Hoffenbacker went 3-for-3 versus Sentinel and drove in one run.

"She really came through with some key hits," Bemis said.

Sabrina Kenfield's line shot to the fence in right center field in the sixth inning with one out emptied the bases.

"We really need it," Bemis said of Kenfield's double.

Glacier scored four runs in the sixth to take a 12-9 lead.

Big Sky jumped on top 7-0 after two innings and rolled from there in the opener. Glacier was limited to eight hits -Brittany Franklin went 2-for-3 and Abby Connolly 2-for-4.

Glacier is back in action Saturday at Helena.

Big Sky 043 010 0 - 8 11 3

Glacier 001 002 2 - 5 8 3

A. Walt and K. Lavoutel; Jessie Compton, Kendra Bouley (4) and Brittany Franklin. W - Walt. L - Compton, 0-3.

BIG SKY - A. Kropp 0-4, K. Wagner 1-4, R. White 1-4, Lavoutel 0-4, S. Quammers 3-4, Walt 3-4, O'Rally 1-2; K. Loucostic 1-3, Gordon 1-4.

GLACIER - Brittney Brown 0-2, Zoey Pettit 1-3, Anna Costa 1-1, Franklin 2-3, Lindsey Hoffenbacker 1-3, Abby Connolly 2-4, Megan Connolly 0-4, Sabrina Kenfield 1-3, Compton 0-1, Bouley 0-1, Christian Sporle 0-2.

2B-Walt; Franklin; HRs-Quammers, Loucostic; RBIs-White, Quammers (2), O'Rally, Loucostic (2), Gordon; Costa, A. Connolly, Kenfield.

Sentinel 002 052 0 - 9 12 1

Glacier 004 314 x - 12 13 3

R. Cullit and M. Gray; Compton, Bouley (5) and Franklin. W - Compton, 1-3. L - Cullit.

SENTINEL - R. Burrington 2-4, K. Landolfi 2-4, B. Tollife 2-4, Gray 2-4, Cullit 1-2, A. Forner 0-4, N. Anderson 0-4, A. Gornic 1-3, J. Kallis 2-4.

GLACIER - Costa 0-4, Brown 2-3, Hoffenbacker 3-3, Franklin 1-3, A. Connolly 3-3, Pettit 1-4, Kenfield 3-4, M. Connolly 1-3, Compton 0-2, Bouley 0-2.

2B-Landolfi, Cullit; M. Connolly, Kenfield; 3B-Hoffenbacker; HRs-Burrington (2); RBIs-Burrington (3), Tollife, Gray (2); Hoffenbacker, Franklin (2), A. Connolly, Pettit, Kenfield (3).

Sentinel 10, Flathead 8

Big Sky 13, Flathead 1

Flathead matched Sentinel in the hitting department, both teams slammed 12, but the Spartans held on for the Western AA victory.

In the second game, Big Sky downed the Bravettes in six innings.

Flathead moves to 0-2 in league play, 1-4 overall.

"We hit the ball really well to start the first game," Flathead coach Tim Severson said.

"We're just having some growning pains (right now) with the young players."

Severson said the four errors in both games were costly.

"We just have to clean it up and we'll be OK," he said.

Kendra Bennett paced the FHS offense versus Sentinel, going 3-for-4. Meagan Hash, 2-for-3, and Alisha Lingle, 2-for-4, were next.

Flathead led 6-2 after two innings, but Sentinel responded with a six-run third.

Against Big Sky, Flathead was held to four hits. Megan Olsewski went 2-for-3.

Flathead's next action is Saturday at Helena.

Sentinel 116 110 0 - 10 12 0

Flathead 150 020 0 - 8 12 4

R. Cullit and M. Gray; Meagan Hash and Megan Olsewski. W - Cullit. L - Hash, 1-4.

SENTINEL - R. Burrington 3-5, K. Landolfi 2-4, B. Tollife 2-3, Gray 3-4, Cullit 1-3, A. Forner 1-3, Beccari 0-4, A. Gornic 0-3, J. Kallis 0-4.

FLATHEAD - Hash 2-3, Emily Jones 0-3, Kendra Bennett 3-4, Alisha Lingle 2-4, Olsewski 0-4, Casey Roylston 0-2, Brenna Palmer 1-4, Cherise Stivers 1-4, Christyne Hanson 2-3.

2B-Burrington, Landolfi, Cullit; Bennett (2), Stivers; 3B-Landolfi; HRs-Gray (2); RBIs-Tollife (3), Gray (3); Bennett (3), Lingle, Olsewski, Hanson (2).

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Big Sky 000 265 - 13 10 0

Flathead 001 000 - 1 4 4

A. Walt and K. Lavoutel; Hash and Olsewski. W -Walt. L - Hash, 3-3.

BIG SKY - A. Kropp 2-5, K. Wagner 1-2, R. White 2-3, Lavoutel 1-3, S. Quammers 0-4, Walt 2-4, O'Rally 1-4, K. Loucostic 1-3, Gordon 0-4.

FLATHEAD - Hash 0-1, Jones 1-2, Bennett 0-3, Lingle 1-3, Olsewski 2-3, Stivers 0-3, Roylston 0-3, Hailley Johnson 0-1, Hanson 0-1, Kylee Mack 0-2.

2B-Walt; HRs-Lavoutel, Walt; RBIs-White (3), Lavoutel (3), Quammers, Walt (3); Olsewski.

Polson 4, Ronan 3

RONAN - Ronan tied the game at 3-all with a three-run sixth inning, but Polson answered with a run in the top of the seventh to win the Western A contest.

Staci Benson and Rochelle Woods both went 2-for-4 for Polson. Woods drove in two runs for the Pirates.

Kelsey Clairmont, 2-for-3, and Jordan Strozzi, 2-for-4, were Ronan's offensive leaders. Strozzi and teammate Kaylee Larson both doubled. Clairmont had two RBIs.

Dakota Peterson went the distance in the circle for Polson.

Polson hosts Columbia Falls on Thursday.

Polson 010 020 1 - 4 9 2

Ronan 000 003 0 - 3 7 2

Dakota Peterson and Kayla Duford. Kaylee Larson and Jordan Strozzi. W - Peterson. L - Larson.

POLSON - Staci Benson 2-4, Susan Perez-Tennan 0-4, Sarah Newton 1-2, Rochelle Woods 2-4, Charlee Jenson 1-2, Sallie Sams 0-1, Peterson 0-3, Duford 1-3, Kodi Woods 0-1, Riley Kenney 0-1, Liz Simshaw 1-2, Cecilly Grant 1-1.

RONAN - Larson 1-4, Kelsey Clairmont 2-3, Strozzi 2-4, April Soukup 1-4, Amanda Bartell 1-4, Chelsey Bourdon 0-4, Dani Crockett 0-2, Brittni Clairmont 0-1, Katie Andrews 0-2.

2B-Larson, Strozzi; RBIs-Clairmont (2); Newton, Woods (2).

Columbia Falls 16, Whitefish 8

WHITEFISH - For a season opener, Columbia Falls has to be pleased.

The Wildkats banged out 15 hits, pushed five runs across the plate in the first inning and seven more in the fifth en route to a Western A softball victory over rival Whitefish.

Whitefish tied the game at 5-all after two innings, but that was as close as the Bulldogs would get in falling to 0-2 on the season.

Whitefish, which came into the season with a goal of scoring at least seven runs per game, passed that standard for a second time. The Bulldogs finished with 10 hits.

"The girls won't quit," Whitefish coach Alan Compton said.

"They are growing every game. They understand if they hit, we can play with anybody."

Compton said the team had four base running errors, which denied the team four runs.

Whitefish plays Friday at Browning, while Columbia Falls travels to Polson on Thursday.

Columbia Falls 502 070 2 - 16 15 6

Whitefish 140 300 0 - 8 10 2

T. Cowan and Amber James; Carolyn Sharpe and Hailey Mortensen. W - Cowan. L - Sharpe, 0-2.

COLUMBIA FALLS - R. Nelson 1-5, T. Yeager 1-5, A. Mallard 0-5, James 3-3, K. Stinger 4-5, C. Skiles 2-4, S. Rowe 1-4, M. Rowe 2-4, S. Smith 1-4.

WHITEFISH - Adele FauntLeRoy 1-2, Sharpe 1-3, Heather Bailey 0-5, Mortensen 3-4, Kaitlyn Wehrli 1-3, Kristi Whisler 0-4, Shannon Holmes 0-4, Madison Tveidt 3-4, Nicole Schilling 1-3.

2B-Yeager, Stinger (3), Skiles, S. Rowe; FauntLeRoy, Sharpe, Mortensen, Schilling; RBIs-James, Stinger (3), Skiles (2), S. Rowe (2), Smith (2); Mortensen (3), Schilling.