Pack has chemistry

Glacier's Joel Bemis will never forget his first game as a head coach.

It was spring of 2008. Bemis' brand new Glacier Wolfpack softball team was at Polson, taking on the then-defending Class A state champion Polson Pirates.

The Wolfpack pups were understandably nervous.

"We threw the ball around a lot," smiled senior first baseman Abby Connolly, then a sophomore.

The Pirates scored 10 runs in the first inning en route to a 13-3 win.

"We tied them the rest of the way," Bemis remembered.

"That whole first year was such a scramble," said senior Brytanni Knopp.

"Such an experiment. But we were competitive in every game except three or four," Bemis said.

They won five games.

How far they have come.

The Wolfpack finished the regular season 18-3, second in Western AA this season.

One of those wins this spring was over the Polson Pirates.

The Glacier seniors - Connolly, Knopp, Lyndsey Hoffenbacker and Zoey Pettit - have been a huge part of the Wolfpack success.

Connolly, first base, batted .317, Hoffenbacker, second base, batted .426 and had a .685 slugging percentage. Pettit, center field, batted .298 and Knopp, outfield, had an on-base percentage of .356.

The secret?

They cite good chemistry, a laid-back atmosphere and a love for the game.

"I think just working together, getting close with each other," Hoffenbacker said.

"Our main focus is chemistry. We want to be better as a team, not just individually," she said.

"I think starting out I knew this would be our core group," Bemis said.

"They were all varsity players when they were sophomores," he said.

"All year at different times, each of the four have stepped up. To me that's special. None of them really think ‘I have to be a star.' They don't care," Bemis said.

"We do have a lot of chemistry this year, just from being together so long," Knopp agreed.

"The team comes first," Connolly said. I think we are a lot stronger as a team. And we are definitely more confident. We all know we've gotten better," Connolly said.

"They have matured a lot.I think our girls understand we all have roles and they are all honest with each other," said assistant coach Lissy Boar.

Boar was an assistant at Flathead when these four were members of the Bravette freshman team.

"They seemed like little girls (back then). Now they know the game - they're smart about the game," she said.

"We're able to know what our limitations are," Pettit said.

Bemis had something to say of each girl.

Knopp "is the one who is always smiling. Her attitude has been so good, especially since she never knows where she's going to be. She's been a big part of our program," he said.

Pettit "is very athletic, very fast. We didn't know what to do with her 'til after the first year, seeing her athleticism in the outfield," he said.

Connolly is "the smart one and the good one," Bemis said to laughter.

"You see (the team) looking to Abby. If Abby does it, they'll all to it. Her leadership has been really special.

"Her hustle and her play," the coach said of Hoffenbacker.

Hoffenbacker was all-state as a sophomore, all-conference as a junior.

"She makes plays it doesn't seem like she should have even been able to make," he said.

None of the four do any other sports - each said they prefer the laid-back atmosphere and the individual nature of spring sports.

"It's so team-oriented, but there is a lot that is individual. It's a really interesting combination, I think. It's your ball and strike count. It's your chance to hit," Connolly said.

"We make it fun. We play for ourselves. The coaches allow us to do that," Pettit said.

"Our No. 1 goal is to have fun and do things the right way," Bemis smiled.

"I do project my girls (Bemis has three daughters) onto the way I treat these young ladies. I treat them the way I would want a coach to treat my daughters - with dignity - but coach them, too," he said.

"To hear them now as seniors, it makes me realize how much they have grown up. It makes me excited for each one of them," Bemis said.

Whatever each girl chooses for her life "they're going to be good at it," he said.

"I want them to know how proud we are of them. We joke a lot, but it has been a pleasure working with them for four years," Boar added.