Polson powers past 'Pack

Polson’s Taylor Brackey was just a freshman the last time she hit a home run.

The junior third baseman put two over the fence Thursday evening and the Lady Pirates never looked back in an 11-1 rout of Glacier for a nonconference softball victory at Kidsports Complex.

Brackey’s three-run home run in the top of the first highlighted a four-run inning, as Polson got to Glacier’s hard-throwing ace Ali Williams early, and often

“I’ve always loved hitting off of Ali,” Brackey said.

“She’s got a nice little fastball, but I felt relaxed and was ready to play. I was feeling it today.”

Her next at-bat came in the fourth inning with a 4-1 lead. That’s when she launched a solo shot to dead center for her fourth RBI of the game.

“Taylor has always had that power potential as long as we can get her to settle down at home plate,” Polson head coach Larry Smith said.

“She can hit the ball hard. She’s always proven that, and she did that really well today.”

Brackey wasn’t the only Pirate to show off her power.

Second baseman Sarah Rasuch came off the bench and hit a solo home run in the sixth and pitcher Jessica Bagnell hit a three-run homer over the left-field fence in the seventh.

Bagnell finished 3 for 4 with five RBIs.

“To hit the ball as well as we did, we’ve been expecting that, but it’s nice to see it finally come through for us,” Smith said.

“To come up here and beat Glacier on their home field is an amazing feat in itself, so we’re very happy with how we played today.”

Polson came out hitting all game long, but its defense sealed the victory.

Bagnell gave up just six hits in as many innings of work, and the Lady Pirates committed a single error to hold the Wolfpack at bay.

“Jessica has been doing very well for us,” Smith said. “She gets a little better and better as the season goes on, which is important as we get into our conference foes.”

Glacier’s lone run came in the bottom of the first inning—a solo home run by Williams.

“What we need to do is find ways to get a little of the weight off Ali’s shoulders,” Glacier head coach Andy Fors said. “She’s trying to do everything for us, and she needs to understand that we’ll be there for her as a team, but we need to step up and help her out a little bit.”

Williams, who struck out five Pirates, was 2 for 3 at the plate, including a double to left field.

She was joined by teammate Christina DuFour, who was 2 for 3 with two base hits.

“Polson had a great day with the bats. They hit with a lot of power and scored a lot of runs there,” Fors said. “In order for us to even be in a game like that we have to answer back with our offense and we weren’t able to do that today. The challenge is to see how they can respond to this, to learn how to find that desire, to bounce back and believe in themselves again.”  

The Wolfpack will look to rebound today when it travels to Libby to take on the Loggers in another nonconference match up. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.

The Lady Pirates will look to continue there success Saturday against Columbia Falls. The Nortwestern A contest is scheduled for 2 p.m. in Polson.

Polson    400    111    4    —    11    9    1

Glacier    100    000    0    —    1    6    4

Jessica Bagnell, Emma Shew (7) and Jaylin Kenney. Ali Williams and Hannah Atlee. W — Bagnell. L — Williams.

POLSON — Jaylin Kenney 1-3, Jaiden Toth 1-3, Jessica Bagnell 3-4, Kaelen Wall 1-2, Hannah Potter 0-3, Taylor Brackey 2-4, Kyrie Bitterman 0-4, Ashley Benson 0-2, Sarah Rausch 1-2, Lydia Dupuis 0-3, Skyla Krantz 0-1.

GLACIER — Kayla Russell 0-3, Taylor Riggles 0-3, Ali Williams 2-3, Hannah Atlee 1-3, Tacey Howe 0-3, Anna Jenks 0-2, Ali Newton 0-1, Christina DuFour  2-3, Katie McHugh 0-1, Josie Brousseau 1-1, Erin McHugh 0-2.

2B — Wall. Williams. HR — Brackey 2, Rausch, Bagnell. Williams. RBIs — Bagnell 5, Brackey 4, Rausch 1.