Softball: Glacier falls to Eagles, rebounds to defeat Spartans
With one swing of the bat, the Western AA softball race became a lot tighter.
After splitting a doubleheader against Missoula Big Sky and Missoula Sentinel, the Glacier Wolfpack shares an identical conference record with the Big Sky Eagles.
The Eagles (12-2 overall, 6-2 Western AA) snuck past Glacier (11-3, 6-2) in 10 innings of intense softball at Kidsport Complex on Thursday, using Kendall Mooney’s solo home run in the top of the 10th for a 4-3 victory.
It was the Eagles’ third homer of the game.
Kayla Russell scored all three of Glacier’s runs, reaching base in the first, third and fifth innings before being knocked in twice by Erin McHugh and once on a fielder’s choice off the bat of Ali Williams.
After Russell crossed home in the fifth, Glacier couldn’t manufacture another run for the final five innings.
Big Sky pitcher Macey Newberry struck out 11 batters in the contest.
Williams, in the circle for the Wolfpack, struck out 12 while Glacier played error-free ball for 10 innings.
“It was tight the whole way,” Glacier coach Andy Fors said.
“Big Sky is one of the top teams in the conference and state. We wanted to get them today and didn’t quite have enough. To go 10 innings without an error, we played pretty clean. We just couldn’t come up with that big hit.”
Glacier rebounded in Game 2, scoring three runs in each of the first two innings against Sentinel (3-9, 3-4).
The Spartans threatened in the third with four runs, but the Wolfpack answered with one run in the bottom half of the inning and held on for a 7-4 victory.
Alivia Atlee, Mackenzie Brester-Knight and Katie Wiley each went 2 for 3 with a double in Game 2.
Glacier travels to Helena on Saturday, playing Helena High at noon and Helena Capital at 2 p.m.
Big Sky 000 120 000 1 — 4 9 2
Glacier 101 010 000 0 — 3 8 0
Macey Newberry and Morgan Johnson. Ali Williams Christine Connolly
Big Sky — Newberry 1-4, Kylie Snow 0-5, Johnson 1-5, Jaime Schafer 1-5, Kendall Mooney 2-5, Kendall Rauk 0-05, Quincy Preston 2-4, Schwenk 1-4, Natalie Schwab 1-3.
Glacier — Christina DeFour 0-5, Kayla Russell 2-5, Williams 1-4, Erin McHugh 3-5, Mackenzie Brester-Knight 0-4, Kayleena Ikeda 1-4, Alivia Atlee 0-3, Connolly 1-3, Katie Wiley 0-3.
2B — Russell, HR — Johnson, Schafer, Mooney. RBIs — Johnson Schafer, Mooney Schwank; McHugh 2, Williams.
Sentinel 004 000 0 — 4 7 3
Glacier 331 000 x — 7 10 1
Amber Hickethier and Taylor Holmes. Ali Williams, Erin McHugh (2) and Christine Connolly. W — McHugh. L — Hickethier.
SENTINEL — Kayla Daily 0-4, Brittany Delridge 2-4, Holmes 0-4, Taylor Brinkman 1-4, Hickethier 1-3, Brooklyn Weisgram 1-4, Kealey Gillis 0-3, Emily Malone 1-3, Serina Breum 1-2.
GLACIER — Williams 1-4, Kayla Russell 1-4, McHugh 1-3, Christina DuFour 0-3, Kayleena Ikeda 0-3, Mackenzie Brester-Knight 2-3, Alivia Atlee 2-3, Connolly 1-3, Katie Wiley 2-3.
2B — Brinkman, Malone, Delridge, Atlee, Wiley, Williams, Brester-Knight, McHugh. RBIs — Delridge, Brinkman 2, Williams 2, McHugh 2, DuFour.