Pack grounded by Eagles, blows away Sentinel
Glacier softball shook off a tough loss to split a two-game set with Missoula Big Sky and Sentinel on Tuesday in a pair of Western AA conference games at Kidsports Complex.
The Wolfpack (1-2-1 overall, 1-2 Western AA) ran in to one of the top young pitchers in Class AA in their first contest, falling to Big Sky (6-1, 2-0) 6-1 on the back of a fantastic pitching performance by Eagles sophomore Macey Newbary. The young starter allowed just four hits through six innings before a home run from Hannah Atlee gave some life to the Wolfpack lineup.
“Credit to their defense and her as a pitcher, they were very solid,” Glacier coach Andy Fors said. “We struggled putting the ball in play and didn’t seem to make solid contact. We could not get our bats going.”
Glacier rebounded in the nightcap, led by a huge performance by Atlee. The senior backed up her blast in the opening game with a double, a triple and four RBIs against Sentinel (0-6, 0-2), even closing out the game in the circle to keep a clean sheet in an impressive 27-0 victory.
“Hannah did great today,” Fors said. “This is the best she’s hit so far. She did a nice job. She stepped up and made good contact.”
Glacier scored seven runs in the first and 15 in the third to run away from the Spartans with relative ease. Atlee was one of six Wolfpack batters to pick up multiple hits in the game. Kayla Russell and Christine Connoly each went 4 for 4 with two RBIs and Kayleena Ikeda was 4 for 5 and batted in four runs. Taylor Riggles was 2 for 3 with a home run and Tacey Howe was 3 for 4 with a double.
In all, the Wolfpack had 20 hits, including seven for extra bases, in the rout.
“I’m always pleased when a team can respond like that,” Fors said. “They responded well in second game. They got the bats going and moved people around the bases.”
Glacier plays at Helena for a pair against Capital and Helena High on Saturday.
Big Sky 000 100 5 — 6 6 3
Glacier 000 000 1 — 1 5 1
Macey Newbary and Morgan Johnson. Ali Williams and Christine Connolly. W - Newbary. L - Williams.
BIG SKY — Newbary 0-4, Kendall Mooney 0-4, Johnson 1-4, Jaime Schafer 1-3, Quincy Preston 1-3, Kendall Rauk 1-3, Kiley Snow 1-3, Chelsea Todd 1-3, Kennedy Bahm 0-3.
GLACIER — Kayla Russell 1-2, Taylor Riggles 1-3, Williams 1-3, Kayleena Ikeda 0-3, Katie McHugh 0-3, Hannah Atlee 1-3, Tacey Howe 0-3, MacKenzie Brester-Knight 0-3, Anna Jenks 1-3.
HR — Johnson. Atlee. RBIs — Mooney 2, Johnson 1, Snow 1, Todd 2. Atlee.
Sentinel 000 00 — 0 5 2
Glacier 74(15) 1x — 27 20 1
Halle Nurse, Kealey Gillis (2), Timber Plenger (3) and Gillis, Emily Earl (2). Ali Williams, Hannah Atlee (3) and Christine Connolly. W - Williams. L - Nurse.
SENTINEL — Plenger 1-3, Cady Lanzel 0-3, Gillis 1-2, Jessica McMillan 0-3, Nurse 0-2, Serina Breum 2-2, Ashna Laird 0-2, Katie Pierce 1-2, Savannah Ganieany 0-2.
GLACIER — Russell 4-4, Riggles 2-3, Williams 0-3, Ikeda 4-5, Atlee 3-5, Jenks 1-2, McHugh 1-2, Kristina Dufor 1-1, Howe 3-4, Connolly 4-4.
2B — Russell, Atlee, Dufor, Howe, Connolly. 3B — Atlee. HR — Riggles. RBIs — Russell 2, Riggles 4, Williams 1, Ikeda 3, Atlee 4, McHugh, 3, Howell 3, Connolly 2.