TERRY COLUMN: Glacier softball hoping for some home cookin'

There’s no place like home.

At least that’s been true for the Glacier softball team this season.

The Wolfpack open their state title defense today at Conrad Complex, facing Billings West and a mountain of expectations.

Glacier was a scrappy upstart with a strong battery last season when it reeled off four straight wins to take home its first state title.

They’ll be a favorite to do so again, returning dominant pitcher Ali Williams and a handful of starters from last season’s program.

The Wolfpack struggled at times this season, mostly in the first half, but has been almost untouchable at home.

Glacier is 13-1 as a home team this season, dropping its only home game in the first contest of the season. It’s 5-4 on the road, but hasn’t lost in 11 games, and seems to be playing its best ball.

“I feel like the girls over the course of the season did have more success in Kalispell,” Glacier coach Andy Fors said.

“I would like to hope that can carry over to the postseason. I think there’s an advantage of playing in your hometown where you’re familiar and comfortable. If a game comes down to one or two little things, maybe the fact that they’re at home and slept in their own bed might give us a slight edge.”

Flathead experienced some of that boost last spring, when the boys track team saw eight boys place 14 times at Legends Stadium to win a share of the Class AA state championship.

Some of the placers were shoo-ins, like then-defending champion jumper Jess Beaman winning triple jump and placing in the long jump. He had won previously in the triple jump, placed in both events and was expected to do well on his home runway.

High jump champ Chade Gonter, however, used the comfortable surroundings to match a season best leap of 6 feet, 3 inches, a mark five other competitors had matched or beaten that year. His jump however, came at the right time, and the right place. As did timely throws from Beaman and Josh McCracken in the discus that scored three points for the Braves in the final event to square the home team into first place.

“You know where all the ruts are,” Flathead coach Dan Hodge said. “You’ve been there. You know how the wind blows. You know how the weather is going to affect you. Just walking into the environment, I think, gives you a confidence.

“You’ve already established a routine. You have established routines that help you out at home. When you go out of town, instead of stepping into the ring from the right side, you might have to step into it from the left side.

“It does help.”

The only other time a Kalispell team has won a state softball title, it came at home in the friendly confines of Conrad Complex, when Flathead kept the trophy in town in 2003.

“It’s nice that we’re in Kalispell,” Fors said. “It’s nice that they get to sleep in their own beds. It’s nice that we get to play on familiar territory. We’re really hoping that we’ll have a good fanbase and a lot more people at the games and have a few more Kalispell softball fans that are supporting them. We’re anxious about it, excited and glad that it’s here in town.

“There’s so much momentum in the game of softball. When you have confidence and you’re comfortable with your position, and you’ve had those reps and that experience, it helps you settle in a little bit. I think we’re in a good place right now.”

The Wolfpack are in a great place to win another championship. No place like it.