Softball: Glacier, Flathead ready for postseason
The Class AA Softball State Playoffs begin today and both the Flathead Bravettes and Glacier Wolfpack are in the mix for a birth to the state tournament next week in Great Falls.
Standing in each of their paths is a three game series with familiar oppopents.
The Bravettes (5-13) hit the road to take on Missoula Big Sky (15-6).
The Eagles swept Flathead in the regular season, beating the Bravettes 17-4 at Conrad Complex and again in Missoula 10-0, but they’ll meet a team who’s getting hot at the right time.
Flathead split the crosstown doubleheader with Glacier, winning the second game when left fielder Shayla Tweet recorded the final out with a sliding catch, robbing Glacier of a seventh-inning base hit.
The Bravettes rejoiced after beating their rival, who swept them by eight runs in both games of the season’s first crosstown twin bill.
“We’re expecting to take that momentum straight into the first inning with Big Sky,” Bravettes head coach Ashley Fusaro said.
“We’ve definitely improved, and we’re hitting our peak at the right time. We’ve had great practices this week and worked our pitchers pretty hard.”
Pitching was the highlight of the Game 2 victory and will be a key to the postseason success the yearn for.
Freshman ace Kylee Beccari gave up three runs in 14 innings, pitching two complete games, including a two-hitter in the win.
But should Flathead split with Big Sky a third game will be played to determine who advances to Great Falls.
21 innings from one pitcher is a tall task. Luckily for Flathead, freshman Niea Sutton has seen plenty of success in the reliever role all season.
“It’s the saem thing we’ve been doing all season with both our pitchers,” Fusaro said.
“We work them both really hard in practice. They know either of them can go in at any point in any game. They know they have to be ready to be able to do that.”
The Eagles boast an ace of their own in Macey Newbarry one of the top pitchers in the circle in AA.
Flathead has the ability to win this series, but they’ll have to be nearly perfect in every asset of the game—a challenge Fusaro says her team is ready for.
“We’re able to put together a full game. We’re playing well defensively, and our hitters keep improving. I think our seniors are ready to win some games against Big Sky and make it to state.
The games are scheduled for 2 p.m. and 4. A 6 p.m. game will be played if necessary.
The Glacier Wolfpack (10-8-1) face the Helena High Bengals (6-13-1), a team they swept in the regular season, but not without a tough test in Helena.
“Helena is a good softball team,” Glacier head coach Andy Fors said.
“They have a pretty solid lineup one through nine. We’re going to try to focus on what we can control. It’s playoff time I think all the teams are focused on this time of year.”
Glacier inched past the Bengals 2-1 in the their first meeting of the season. Junior Kayla Russell had an RBI for the Wolfpack while sophomore Christine Connolly went 2 for 3.
It was a different story at Kidsport Complex for the second meeting between the two teams.
Glacier put up four runs in the first inning and Ali Williams hit a solo shot in the sixth, as the Wolfpack trounced the Bengals 9-1.
“The fact that our defense has found it’s stride, and Ali is pitching well, it takes the pressure off of our offense,” Fors said.
“We’ve just tried to focus on ways to build confidence at the plate. We definitely have the athletes to have success offensively. We just need them to step onto the box with confidence.”