Sentinel pulls away from Flathead; Frenchtown trips Polson

Flathead hung tough with Missoula Sentinel for three innings before the Spartans pulled away for a 16-4 Western AA softball victory Thursday afternoon at the Conrad Complex.

Sentinel scored 12 runs in the last three innings to put the issue to rest.

Sentinel outhit Flathead 19-3 and did not commit an error.

Flathead had three errors.

“The score didn’t really reflect the (nature of the) game,” Flathead coach Ashley Fusaro said.

“We battled with them for four innings. A couple errors hurt us.”

On the bright side, Flathead did show some muscle on offense.

“We did hit the ball well today,” she said.

Leadoff hitter Julia Morrow was 2-for-3 to pace the Bravettes. Iris Matulevich, Morgan Knutson, Cassidy Smith, Julie Dawson, Kaylee Henderson and Adrienne Carroll all had one hit.

Speaking of muscle, Amber Amaya hit two home runs for Sentinel and Taylor Goforth also had a round-tripper.

Flathead (3-6 league) is back in Western AA action today at Missoula Hellgate.

Missoula Sentinel 301 426 — 16 19 0

Flathead 201 010 — 4 8 3

Taylor Laden and Taylor Goforth; Carson Dawson, Jenna Jensen (5), Dawson (6) and Kaylee Henderson. W — Laden. L — Dawson.

MISSOULA SENTINEL — Jamie Jo Kallis 2-4, Amber Amaya 2-3, Lexi Miller 3-5, Nikki Anderson 2-4, Goforth 2-3, Breezi Cuffe 3-4, Bailey Deyle 3-5, Cady Lanzel 0-3, Nikki Schurg 1-2, Meranda Barnes 1-4.

FLATHEAD — Julia Morrow 2-3, Iris Matulevich 1-2, Morgan Knutson 1-3, Cassidy Smith 1-2, Julie Dawson 1-3, Henderson 1-3, Adrienne Carroll 1-3, C. Dawson 0-2, Jensen 0-1, Norah Rashoodi 0-2, Mackenzie Twichel 0-1.

2B—Miller, Goforth, Cuffe; HRs—Amaya (2), Goforth; RBIs—Amaya (3), Goforth, Cuffe (3), Deyle; Knutson, Smith.

‘

Frenchtown 8,

Polson 3

POLSON — Five errors — and a whole bunch of mental mistakes — really cost the Polson Lady Pirates in a Northwestern A softball matchup on Thursday.

Frenchtown led 2-1 going into the sixth inning. That’s when Keegan Wickman hit a 3-run homer to center field. Emma Oostdyk followed that with a solo homer — as the Broncs built a 6-1 lead.

“She (Wickman) got it all. It was hard hit,” said Polson coach Larry Smith.

“They are very, very good up and down the lineup. They’re just dangerous. You can’t make a mistake pitching.”

Until then the game had been “well-played by two very good teams. We just mentally kind of collapsed on ourselves,” he said.

The mistakes kept coming after that. Polson had a chance to rally in the seventh.

“Base running mistakes took us right out of it,” the coach said.

“Our backs are against the wall now. We can’t afford to have another conference loss. (The Pirates) just have to toughen up.

Mistakes “just make you better. You bounce back and you perform better.

“They’ll gather themselves, I’m sure,” he added.

The Pirates head to the Bitterroot on Saturday. They take on Hamilton in the morning and Corvallis in the afternoon.

Frenchtown 001 014 2 — 8 9 1

Polson 010 001 1 — 3 8 5

Abby Indreland and Madison McGuire. Shalaina Duford and Jaylin Kenney. W — Indreland. L — Duford (7-5).

Frenchtown — Katie Kees 1-4, Kaitlyn Indreland 0-2, Keller Leishman 2-4, Abby Indreland 0-3, Madison McGuire 1-4, Sarah Lester 0-4, Kayla Weishaar 1-4, Keegan Wickman 1-3, Emma Oostdyk 3-3.

HR — Oostdyk 2, Wickman 1. 2B — Kees. RBI — Leishman 1, A. Indreland 1, McGuire 1, Wickman 3, Oostdyk 2.

Polson — Ashley Johnson 1-4, Riley Kenney 1-4, Shalaina Duford 1-3, Martina Marquardt 0-3, Heidi Rausch 1-3, Jaylin Kenney 1-3, Jessica Bagnell 1-3, Makaliah Wilson 1-3, Colleen Jacobson 0-1, Jordan Evertz 1-2.

HR — Rausch. RBI — R. Kenney 1, Rausch 1.