Glacier picks up two big wins

If this is how the Glacier Wolfpack softball team plays in wet weather, head coach Joel Bemis says bring on the rain.

The Wolfpack (3-7) got a pair of wins — including a 4-3 upset victory over Western AA No. 2 Missoula Sentinel — on Thursday at Kidsports Complex. Glacier followed that up with an 8-3 win over Missoula Big Sky.

“That’s a big upset. That’s a nice win,” Bemis said of the Sentinel victory.

“I’ll take that kind of weather if we can play that well,” he said.

“We just had such a solid team effort. Everybody hit the ball, we played great defense and I think we just did a better job of dealing with the weather. We just played really well. It was good to see them put a lot of things together. They were believing and they were playing hard,” the coach said. 

The Wolfpack took a two-run lead in the first, but the Spartans tied the game in the fifth and took the lead in the top of the seventh inning.

Shayna Atlee got aboard with a walk in Glacier’s half of the inning. The Wolfpack followed that with four straight hits. Taylor Riggles had the game-winning RBI, scoring Hannah Atlee from third base.

“To string (the hits) together, that’s how you win,” Bemis said. 

“It was fun to see the girls battle and stay in there and never give up,” he said. 

In the second game, “we continued to hit the ball and run the bases well. They were mentally tough in that game. Shayna (Atlee) pitched the entire game. She kept them off-balance and we played solid defense behind her.”

Atlee only struck out one Eagle batter, but she got a lot of pop flys and ground-outs — and her teammates were error-free behind her, the coach said.

“The girls really had fun. They seemed relaxed and played well.”

Glacier plays host at noon and 2 p.m. on Saturday to Helena Capital and Helena High.

Glacier 4, Sentinel 3

Sentinel 001 011 0— 3101

Glacier 200 000 2 — 492

Amanda Jackson, Taylor Laden (2) and Taylor Goforth. Shayna Atlee, Jena Willis (4), Atlee (7) and Hannah Atlee. W— Atlee (2-0). L — Laden.

Sentinel — Jamie Jo Kallis 0-1, Amber Amaya 1-2, Lexi Miller 1-3, Nikki Anderson 2-3, Bailey Deyle 1-3, Breezi Cuffe 3-4, Goforth 1-4, Laden 0-3, Meranda Barnes 1-1, Timber Plenger 0-2, Kaitlin Hintz 0-1.

2B — Goforth, Barnes. RBI — Goforth 1, Anderson 1.

Glacier — Jena Willis 1-4, Kallie Evans 0-2, Katie McHugh 2-4, S. Atlee 0-1, Tacey Howe 1-4, Hannah Atlee 2-3, Kayla Russell 1-4, Marissa Rogozynski 2-4, Taylor Riggles 1-3.

RBI — Riggles 1, Howe 1, H. Atlee 1, Russell 1.

Glacier 8, Big Sky 3

Big Sky030000 0— 356

Glacier211211x —870

Andi Walt and Jesse Schafer. Shayna Atlee and Hannah Atlee. W — Atlee (3-0). L — Walt.

MISSOULA Big Sky — Dani Baker 1-3, Shannon O’Reilly 1-3, Baylie Frost 1-4, Schafer 1-2, Walt 0-4, Jessica Brady 0-3, Talia Zook 0-3, Lexi Crawford 1-3, Brittani Foshag 0-3.

2B — Schafer. RBI — Baker 2, Frost 1.

Glacier — Jena Willis 2-4, Kallie Evans 0-4, Katie McHugh 1-3, Shayna Atlee 1-4, Tacey Howe 1-4, Hannah Atlee 1-3, Kayla Russell 0-3, Marissa Rogozynski 2-3, Taylor Riggles 0-3.

2B — McHugh, Rogozynski, H. Atlee. HR— Willis.

RBI — Willis 1, McHugh 1, S. Atlee 1, Howe 2.