Crosstown softball: Seed at stake for Flathead
The Flathead and Glacier softball teams wrap up their regular seasons with a doubleheader today beginning at 3 p.m. at Conrad Complex.
While Glacier (12-5 overall, 9-2 Western AA) has already clinched the top seed from Western AA and a state tournament berth, Flathead (6-13, 3-8) can move up to sixth place with a win in game one. Game two doesn’t count toward the conference standings.
“It’s important for us to compete against a great team like Glacier, and moving up would benefit us,” Flathead coach Ashley Fusaro said.
A Flathead win would tie the Bravettes with Missoula Hellgate for sixth, but Flathead holds the tiebreaker because of its win over No. 2 seed Missoula Big Sky on April 9. As the No. 6 seed, Flathead would travel No. 3 Helena Capital for a state tournament play-in game.
A loss would keep Flathead in seventh place and would pit the Bravettes in a play-in game at Big Sky.
While Glacier is locked in as the No. 1 seed, coach Andy Fors doesn’t expect his team to take the crosstown contests lightly.
“I would hope that our girls would approach the game with the same intensity we hope to bring to the state tournament,” Fors said. “It’s pretty easy to get excited for the crosstown game and I think it’s good to use the energy from that competition to help us prepare for what we need to do in two weeks.”
Flathead has lost its last five games and senior pitcher Sidney Alberts hasn’t stepped in the circle since she injured a finger in practice prior to last week’s doubleheader against Hellgate. Fusaro said she hopes Alberts is able to pitch, but as of Wednesday evening her status was still up in the air.
“It is senior night and we’d love for our senior pitcher to be out on the mound,” Fusaro said. “If she isn’t able to go, Raylene Kerney will pitch for us and she did a great job against Glacier last time.”
Glacier swept April’s crosstown doubleheader, winning game one 17-4 and game two 7-2. Alberts allowed nine earned runs on 16 hits in game one while Kerney gave up seven runs on 11 hits in game two.
Whoever steps into the circle for Flathead will have to contend with one of the best offenses in Class AA. Glacier has slugged 25 home runs so far this season and is batting .364 as a team. Freshman Ali Williams leads the Wolfpack with a .557 batting average and eight home runs. Sophomore Kayleena Ikeda is hitting .467 with five home runs, junior Hannah Atlee is hitting .413 with one home run and senior Jena Willis is batting .377 with seven home runs.
Williams and Willis also make for a formidable 1-2 punch in the circle. Willis has 76 strikeouts in 54.2 innings while Williams has struck out 49 in 58.1 innings.
Flathead carries a .258 team batting average into today’s doubleheader. Junior Kijrstjn Kruse leads the Bravettes with a .378 average and freshman Abbie O’Brien is second with a .369 average. Junior Cassidy Smith’s home run against Big Sky on April 9 is the only longball Flathead has hit this season.
Glacier leads the all-time series 18-2.