Softball: Regular season ends with crosstown
The second installment of the crosstown softball rivalry comes on the final day of the regular season as the Glacier Wolfpack and Flathead Bravettes square off at Conrad Complex.
The Wolfpack (17-3 overall, 9-2 Western AA) enter the regular season finale amidst a seven-game winning streak‚ their longest of the 2015 campaign, and have plenty to play for with the postseason just around the corner.
A Wolfpack win would pull Glacier even with Helena Capital’s conference record. Splitting the regular-season series with the Bruins while holding an advantage in overall records, Glacier is guaranteed a bye to the state tournament in Missoula with a victory over the Bravettes.
“All season long, we’ve really worked hard to have the girls focus on one game at a time, always looking to build towards at the end of the season. We just want to make sure we’re taking steps in the right direction and doing the little thing right to be prepared for the postseason,” Glacier coach Andy Fors said. “They’re always ready to play crosstown. There’s a lot of energy, and a lot people come out to watch this game. There’s a lot on the line, hopefully we’re ready to play.”
Glacier seems to be hitting their stride at the right time. While pitcher Ali Williams leads the state with 219 strikeouts — averaging nearly 13 a game — the Wolfpack offense has come alive in during the most recent winning streak. In the past four games, Glacier has scored 38 runs, outscoring opponents 53-11 since its last loss.
“As the season has progressed, we’ve been able to continually build on the offensive side,” Fors said. “Behind Ali, our defense has been solid all season long. These last couple of weeks we’ve been able to get the bats going stringing together a couple of hits and scoring runs because of it.”
The Bravettes (2-16, 1-10) have some momentum rolling into the matchup. With a seven-game losing streak hanging over the club, Flathead took matters into its own hands, downing Whitefish 28-0. While the Bulldogs have just one win on the year, the Bravettes captured plenty of confidence getting back into the win column.
Lead-off hitter Abbie O’Brien was 5 for 5 with two RBIs against the Bulldogs while Kylee Beccari was 3 for 3 with an RBI.
“I’m looking forward to watching the girls compete and being confident,” Flathead coach Tasia Gates said. “We’ve seen their pitchers. Now, hopefully we can walk up to the box with more confidence. We’ve made some changes in the outfield, and I think the girls have settled into their positions. We’ve focused on short and quick with their hitting. We changed up our hitting routine this week to really focus on seeing that fastball coming in.”
First pitch is scheduled for 5 p.m.