Softball: Bravettes tip Big Sky, lose 7-3 to Sentinel
The Flathead softball team got off to a fast start in league play, splitting a pair of home games at Conrad Complex on Tuesday to start the Western AA season 1-1.
Senior pitcher Sidney Alberts struck out 13 batters and held Missoula Big Sky (3-4 overall, 0-2 Western AA) to just five hits in a 9-2 win for the Bravettes (1-3, 1-1). The shutdown performance comes after the Eagles scored 22 runs in a win over Billings Skyview on Saturday.
“My last three years have been pretty rough,” Alberts said. “It’s definitely good to start out with a win.”
Flathead’s Cassidy Smith hit a two-run homer in the game, one of 11 hits for the Bravettes.
“The time before that, I hit one that was pretty close (to a home run) and the girl caught it,” Smith said. “So I was pretty angry going up there. I wanted to hit it pretty hard.”
Yet, as the temperature dipped outside, the Bravette’s bats also got cold. In the second game of its doubleheader, Flathead got seven hits but left seven runners stranded and couldn’t keep pace with Missoula Sentinel, losing 7-3.
The Spartans scored four runs in the first three innings, and were able to foul off Alberts’ best pitches, working deep into counts.
Sentinel’s Cady Lenzel did just that in the fifth inning, patiently working an 0-2 count full while fouling off six pitches in her at bat. The last one she got, she sent over the wall, with a two-run homer that put the Spartans up 6-2.
Flathead rallied for a run in the seventh but couldn’t get enough runners in to make a comeback, grounding out to the left side of the infield on three straight at bats to end the game.
The Bravettes host the Helena schools at Conrad Complex on Saturday. They are scheduled to play Helena High at noon and Capital at 2 p.m.
“We’re happy with how today went,” Flathead coach Ashley Fusaro said.
“We would’ve liked to come out with two wins but it was a good starting point.”
Big Sky 000 020 0 — 2 2 3
Flathead 230 031 x — 9 11 3
Brooke Denny and Jesse Schafer. Sidney Alberts and Kailee Henderson. W — Alberts. L — Denny.
BIG SKY — Baylie Frost 1-4, Jessica Brady 0-3, Jesse Schafer 0-2, Talia Zook 0-4, Morgan Johnson 1-3, Lexi Crawford 0-2, Kendall Rauk 0-1, Kendall Mooney 0-1, Courtney Blixt 0-3, Brittani Foshag 0-3.
FLATHEAD — Abbie O’Brien 3-4, Iris Matulevich 2-3, Sidney Alberts 0-3, Cassidy Smith 2-3, Kaylee Henderson 1-3, Shayla Tweet 1-4, Mackenzie Twichel 1-4, Kaitlin Torgerson 1-2, Lynsey Potter 0-2.
2B — O’Brien, Henderson, Frost. HR — Smith. RBI — Brady, Matulevich, Alberts, Smith 2, Henderson, Tweet, Torgerson, Potter.
Sentinel 022 210 0 — 7 12 3
Flathead 101 000 1 — 3 7 2
Taylor Laden and Bailey Deyle. Sidney Alberts, Raylene Kerney (6) and Kaylee Henderson. W — Laden. L — Alberts.
SENTINEL — Nikki Schurg 1-4, Breezi Cuffe 1-5, Mandy Jackson 1-3, Timber Plenger 2-4, Lexi Miller 2-3, Bailey Deyle 1-4, Cady Lanzel 2-2, Abby Hanich 2-4, Blakely Brambo 0-2, Abby Gillespie 0-2.
FLATHEAD — Abbie O’Brien 1-4, Iris Matulevich 2-4, Sidney Alberts 0-2, Cassidy Smith 1-4, Kaylee Henderson 1-3, Shayla Tweet 0-3, Mackenzie Twichel 1-3, Kaitlin Torgerson 0-2, Raylene Kerney 1-1, Lynsey Potter 0-2.
2B — Deyle HR — Lanzel. RBI — Lanzel 3, Plenger 2, Hanich, Smith, Henderson.