Sandefer's slam lifts Wildkats
LIBBY — Columbia Falls’ Madison Sandefer hit an inside-the-park grand slam in the top of the fifth inning — and the Columbia Falls Wildkats downed host Libby 6-2 in a Northwestern A softball contest on Thursday.
Sandefer’s shot, which came with two outs, went down the right field line to the fence, according to Libby coach Dean Thompson.
“It was a pretty good game. They had one more hit than we did, but they scored four more runs,” Thompson said.
“It was just back and forth, both defenses played pretty well. They hit the ball at the right time, kind of like what we did to them the first time (this season),” he said.
“We are disappointed after losing this one. We played well, just kind of fell a little short,” the coach said.
The final days of the Northwestern A regular season are going to be thrillers — Columbia Falls plays host at 5:30 today to league-leading Frenchtown while Polson travels to Libby for a 6 p.m. matchup.
Frenchtown has first place pretty well locked up, but the battle for second and third may come down to tiebreakers between Columbia Falls, Libby and Polson.
Columbia Falls 002 040 0 — 6 6 1
Libby 000 001 1 — 2 5 1
Ashley Trueblood and Erika Nelson. Hannah England and Lexie Hageness. W — Trueblood. L — England.
Columbia Falls — Tiffany Hummer 1-4, Jaylynn Cantu 0-4, Shaun Rowe 1-3, Niki Birky 1-2, Madison Sandefer 1-3, Erika Nelson 1-3, Kathrin Jetty 1-3, Ciarra Holm 0-3, Catie King 0-2.
HR — Sandefer. RBI — Sandefer 4, Birky 2
Libby — Alyssa Walker 1-4, Mahalah Wedel 0-3, Devon Gallagher 2-3, Lexie Hageness 1-2, Kelsey Klin 1-2, Dalyn Germany 0-3, Rebecca Kyriss 0-3, Kim Tangen 1-2, Hannah England 0-3.
2B — Hageness. RBI — Klin, Walker.
Polson 30,
Whitefish 0
POLSON — The Pirates racked up 16 hits en route to a Northwestern A victory over visiting Whitefish.
“It was very nice to get everybody in the game,” said Polson coach Larry Smith.
Four Pirates finished the day with multiple hits. Ashley Johnson was 3-for-5, Riley Kenney was 3-for-3, Shalaina Duford was 3-for-6 and Jaylin Kenney was 2-for-3.
Whitefish 000 00 — 0 2 4
Polson 8(11)3 8 x — 30 16 0
Baylee Tveidt and Peyton Twete. Shalaina Duford and Jaylin Kenney. W — Duford (16-4). L — Tveidt.
Whitefish — Peyton Twete 0-2, Malia Morris 1-2, Andrea Lamoureux 0-2, Baylee Tveidt 1-2, Margot Myers 0-2, Hannah Lewis 0-1, Abbie Taylor 0-2, Micah McFeely 0-2, Brynn Ingraham 0-2.
Polson — Ashley Johnson 3-5, Riley Kenney 3-3, Shalaina Duford 3-6, Heidi Rausch 1-1, Makaliah Wilson 1-2, Jaylin Kenney 2-3, Jessica Bagnell 2-3, Colleen Jacobson 0-2, Jaelyn Ellenwood 0-2, Skyla Krantz 1-1, Sarah Rausch 0-0, Jaiden Toth 0-0, Selah Woldron 0-1.
2B — Duford 1. RBI — Riley Kenney 3, Duford 2, H. Rausch 2, Wilson 2, J. Kenney 2, Bagnell 2, Jacobson 2, Krantz 1, Toth 1.