Homer lifts CMR over Glacier

It came down to one battle.

The visiting CMR Rustlers were clinging to a one-run lead in the top of the seventh at Kidsport Complex on Saturday.

They had one runner aboard and senior second baseman Remick Ramsey at the plate.

The Glacier Wolfpack (2-1 overall) had battled back from a seven run deficit to give itself a shot in the final inning.

Glacier had junior pitcher Kendra Bouley in the circle - and it was a dogfight.

Bouley threw 10 pitches. Ramsey worked a 2-2 count and fouled off five.

She wasn't looking for anything special, just trying to stay alive, according to CMR coach Ron Spring.

She got all of Bouley's 10th offering. It sailed over the left field fence and gave the Rustlers a three-run cushion. They eventually came away with a 9-7 victory.

"She's not trying to hit a home run there, but you sure take it," Spring said.

"That was a big hit for her. There were two strikes on her. She was just battling, trying to stay alive and ends up connecting solid, hitting it out," he said.

"Kendra battled that girl and battled that girl. That girl won it. She's showed she's a good hitter. But they needed that at the end," said Glacier coach Joel Bemis.

The Wolfpack finished the day with a split - Brittany Franklin's seventh-inning double helped Glacier defeat Great Falls High 5-4 earlier.

The Wolfpack spotted leads to both the Bison and the Rustlers.

The Bison led 2-1 before the Wolfpack got untracked while CMR blasted to a 7-2 lead after two innings.

CMR scored four runs in the first inning off three hits, two walks and a Glacier error, then added three more in the second inning.

"We came out right away. We had jumped on Flathead earlier and the momentum of that swinging the bats kind of jumped us," Spring said.

"They made a couple mistakes and we took advantage of that. But they're a good team. I was very impressed with them," he added.

"We've got to find a way to settle down," Bemis said.

"We held them to two runs the rest of the way," the coach said.

"They are one of the better offensive teams. They came out and pounded it. But we settled down. Kendra settled down and made them pop up a lot," Bemis said of the Rustlers.

"I was pleased with the way our girls competed with them."

The Wolfpack pecked away. While holding CMR scoreless for four straight innings, it brought in two runs in the fourth, one in the fifth, sixth and seventh.

"I was pretty pleased with our overall defensive effort," he added. Bemis complimented the efforts of second baseman Lyndsie Hoffenbacker and right fielder Bryttani Knopp.

Hoffenbacker made a diving stop in the sixth inning against CMR, then threw the girl out while sitting on the edge of the outfield grass.

"What an effort by that kid. She's so solid. That was fun to watch," he said.

As for Knopp, she had six putouts against CMR.

Offensively, he made mention of Baylee Quay for her complete day - 3-for-4 with two doubles and an RBI.

Franklin also put forth quite an effort - two homers against CMR, a double and a triple against Great Falls High.

"We were very competitive," Bemis said of the first game.

"I thought Jessie Compton came out and threw pretty well. We allowed a couple runs early, but she settled down and threw a really nice game.

"We played pretty solid defense and I was pleased with the way our girls never quit," he said.

"Today just lets us know we can play with anyone. We've got to get better at starting games. We don't want to get into the second or third innings before we hit the ball. But it gives our girls confidence that we can play with the better teams."

Glacier 5, Great Falls 4

Great Falls 200 001 1 - 460

Glacier 100 012 1 573

Lacy Bushong and Kelsey Devlin. Jessie Compton and Franklin. W - Compton 1-0. L - Bushong.

Great Falls - Kelsie Patterson 2-4, Kelsey Devlin 0-3, Katie Schermele 1-4, Jojo Lartch 0-3, Joran Clutter 0-2, Lacy Bushong 1-3, Maria Sayre 0-2, Kelsey McDaniel 1-1, Haley Gruntowitz 1-3, Abby Roberts 0-2.

2B - Patterson, Schermele.

RBI - Patterson 1, McDaniel 1.

Glacier - Anna Costa 1-2, Zoey Pettit 1-4, Brittany Franklin 2-4, Lyndsey Hoffenbacker 0-1, Sabrina Kenfield 1-3, Abby Connolly 0-3, Baylee Quay 2-3, Paige Latimer 0-3, Jessie Compton 0-1.

3B - Franklin.

2B - Franklin, Quay

RBI - Franklin 2, Quay 1

CMR 9, Glacier 7

CMR 430 000 2 - 9 9 2

Glacier 200 211 1 - 7 7 1

Jade Dyson and Caitlin Patee. Kendra Bouley and Brittany Franklin. W - Dyson. L - Bouley.

CMR - Alex Lowry 1-3, Brittney Robbins 1-3, Ashley Keeler 1-3, Jenni Peer 1-1, Remick Ramsey 2-3, Caitlin Patee 3-4, Jade Dyson 0-3, Janelle Bates 0-3, Jordan Otis 0-4, Katelyn Robbins 0-3.

HR - Ramsey.

3B - Patee.

2B - B. Robbins, Ramsey, Patee.

RBIs: Ramsey 4, Patee 1.

Glacier - Costa 0-3, Pettit 1-3,Franklin 3-4, Hoffenbacker 1-3, Kenfield 0-4, Connolly 1-4, Quay 1-1, Bryttani Knopp 0-2, Kendra Bouley 0-3.

HR - Franklin 2

2B - Quay .

RBIs: Franklin 3.