STATE SOFTBALL: Glacier blanks Billings West in Class AA

In a four-hour odyssey that included two rain delays and two softball complexes, the Glacier girls teed off in their Class AA softball tournament opener, hitting four home runs in a 6-0 drubbing of Billings West.

Inclement weather over the last week already left the fields at Conrad Complex saturated with rain when a brief thunderstorm an hour before the start of play delayed action on all four fields at the combined Class AA-B/C tournament. By the time play began, about 50 minutes behind schedule, the teams were able to get in only three innings before a hailstorm blew through the area, delaying action again.

Glacier took a brief lead in the short run of play at Boyle Field. Anna Schrade, leading off in the bottom of the second, hit a towering home run to left center field to give the Wolfpack a 1-0 lead, Glacier’s only hit before the second delay.

The 20-minute storm was enough to create deep puddles on all four fields, leaving the infields unplayable. Tournament officials and the Montana State High School Association made the decision to move the tournament north to Kidsports Complex for the weekend, and finish the first slate of games after a nearly two-hour break.

Now playing on its home field, Glacier took no time to get back into form.

Beginning play with two outs in the bottom of the third, Glacier junior Erin McHugh launched the second pitch she saw over the center field wall to give the Wolfpack a 2-0 lead.

“Erin’s home run was the best thing that happened today,” Schrade said. “Everyone was jacked up. That was our little spark for the day, getting everyone going.”

“We couldn’t have asked for anything better in that situation,” Glacier coach Andy Fors said. “We knew we were going into it with two outs. Resuming an inning with two outs is kinda tough. For her to still be able to get some production out of that inning was huge. It just loosened everybody up, took a little bit of the pressure off and then they just played.”

Settled in, the Pack put West down in order in the fourth inning and after a leadoff walk, junior Emma Shew sent a two-run shot over the left center wall to increase the Glacier lead to 4-0.

Schrade’s second home run, a two-run shot to right center in the fifth, cushioned the lead even more for the confident Wolfpack.

“The entire team was seeing the ball today,” Schrade said. “We started off with the little rain delay, that’s kind of hard to come back from and get some momentum, but the entire team, not just me, everyone contributed. It was a great batting day for the entire team.”

Glacier pitcher Ali Williams was in usual dominant form, allowing only two hits, a pair of singles in the third, and striking out 16 batters.

Schrade was 2 for 3 from the plate and McHugh and Alivia Atlee 2 for 4 as the Wolfpack collected eight hits.

“Even though they got delayed, by the time we got going up here at Kidsports again, they were ready to roll,” Fors said. “I was really proud of them. That was a worry for me, that we may need to find some energy. Shoot, right away in the bottom of the third inning they had that spark and showed they had the focus.”

Glacier advances to play at 10 a.m. today against the top seed from the East, Great Falls C.M. Russell, which used timely hitting to beat Helena High 6-2.

The late first round games scheduled for Friday will be played at 8 a.m. today with the remainder of the tournament to resume at Kidsports through the weekend.

Glacier 6, Billings West 0

West 000 000 0 — 0 2 0

Glacier 011 220 x — 6 8 2

Lexi Mayhood and Kylee Koch (BW). Ali Williams and Christine Connolly (G). W — Williams. L — Mayhood.

BILLINGS WEST — MacKenzie Mayhood 1-3, Cody Rogers 1-3, L. Mayhood 0-2, Kendyl Boltz 0-3, Jenna Cragwick 0-3, Ky. Koch 0-2, Shea Dolan 0-0, Madison Harris 0-2, Kira Drake 0-3, Alexis Ford 0-3.

GLACIER — Williams 0-2, Sarah Stern 0-0, Erin McHugh 2-4, Alivia Atlee 2-4, Madison Johnson 0-0, Anna Schrade 2-3, Connolly 1-2, Kristi Ericksen 0-0, Serra Monroe 0-2, Emma Shew 1-3, Meg Hornby 0-2, Christina DuFour 0-2.

HR — Schrade 2, McHugh, Shew. RBIs — Schrade 3, Shew 2, McHugh.

Great Falls C.M. Russell 6, Helena 2

Helena 100 00 1 — 2 6 0

CMR 031 002 x — 6 6 2

Terra Gilchrist and Jordan Hinman (H). Courtney Schroeder and Katie Huisman (CMR). W — Schroeder. L — Gilchrist.

HELENA — Hinman 1-4, Jamie Pickens 1-4, Emma Meredith 0-3, Taryn Holland 0-3, Julie Shepard 0-3, Hailey Crawford 1-3, Anna Fischer 0-3, Sam Holman 2-2, MacKenna Schmolke 1-1, Gilchrist 0-2, Vanessa Walsh 0-1.

GREAT FALLS CMR — Savanna Voyles 1-2, Brenna Bushard 0-3, Myla Robbins 1-3, Huisman 0-3, Kayci Edwards 1-4, Julia Schearer 1-2, Schroeder 0-1, Laura Poitra 1-2, Kierstin Evenson 1-3.

2B — Pickens (H); Robbins (CMR). HR — Hinman, Schmolke (H). RBIs — Hinman, Schmolke (H); Robbins 2, Voyles, Poitra (CMR).