Bravettes at Big Sky for AA softball series; winner goes to state

It’s playoff time for Class AA softball as the Flathead Bravettes hit the road for a postseason softball series against Missoula Big Sky.

The best-of-three series starts today at 1 p.m. with Game 2 at 3. If necessary, Game 3 will be played at 5.

Flathead (2-17) earned the seventh seed out of the Western AA division and play-in opponent Big Sky (17-4) is the second seed.

The Bravettes dropped their two regular-season contests to the Eagles losing an early-season matchup, 8-6, on April, 7 in Missoula. Kylee Meredith went 2 for 2 with an RBI and a walk in the contest.

Flathead put up three runs in the top of the sixth to trail 7-6, but couldn’t complete the comeback.

The Bravettes lost the second meeting 14-2 in Kalispell.

Meredith, a sophomore shortstop, is batting .320 for Flathead and leads the teams with seven doubles. She is joined by teammates Mikaila Jorgenson, hitting .351, and Becca Knutson (.289) with a team-high 11 RBIs.

Catcher Abbie O’Brien is batting .489 — the highest of any Bravette. In 45 at-bats, the junior has struck out just four times while driving in nine runs.

Both Meredith and O’Brien have hit a home run this year.

But Big Sky is no slouch in the circle.

The Eagles’ Macey Newberry is 14-2 on the year. The junior hurler has struck out 166 batters in 109 innings pitched for the second-best mark in the conference. Her a 1.28 ERA is also second best in the West.

Newberry has also hit 8 home runs during the 2015 campaign, second to teammate Morgan Johnson. Johnson has belted 10 long balls to lead Western AA.