STATE SOFTBALL: Glacier still battling in Class AA

Leave it to Glacier’s little sister to rescue the Wolfpack’s season.

Sophomore outfielder Meg Hornby smacked a game-tying double in the top of the seventh inning to jolt Glacier out of a daylong offensive malaise and classmate Alivia Atlee lined a rocket off the fence four batters later to cap a frenzied last at bat rally, sending the Wolfpack into today’s final day of the Class AA state tournament at Kidsports Complex with a 4-3 win over Billings West in loser-out action on Friday evening.

Glacier lost 1-0 to open Friday against Great Falls C.M. Russell, pushing the Pack to the consolation bracket. They bounced back to beat Helena Capital 1-0 before their dramatic win against West. The Wolfpack can finish no worse than third in the tournament.

Entering the final inning against the Bears, Glacier had scored only three runs on nine hits in 20 offensive innings on Friday.

The Pack scored three times on four hits in the seventh.

Perhaps most improbably of all, the rally started with the bottom third of the order, and Hornby’s liner off the glove of diving third baseman Jenna Craigwick was the biggest hit of all.

“Meg’s the greatest,” Glacier coach Andy Fors said. “She’s like the team’s little sister. Everybody loves her and she’s so much fun to be around, and I could see frustration building with her today. She’d struggled a little bit earlier but there wasn’t a hopeless look in her eye. She wanted another at bat, she was eager for another opportunity and she stepped up and got one.”

Hornby was 0 for 8 in the tournament before the hit.

“I just have to hit this so we can get some runs in,” she said of her straightforward approach in the final at bat. “I felt that I had to hit it and I could.”

Hornby’s hit drove home Emma Shew from third base. Shew fouled off a pair of two-strike pitches leading off the frame before cracking a double into the left field corner. Anna Schrade followed with a single of her own but Hornby was eventually was thrown out trying to score on an Erin McHugh grounder.

The Wolfpack later loaded the bases on an Ali Williams walk, setting up Atlee’s laser double that plated Schrade and McHugh.

“Seeing Emma Shew start that off with her line drive and then Meg hitting another line drive, it was just that fire that makes you want to produce for your team,” Atlee said.

Glacier looked like it had squandered its best chance to win the game just an inning earlier. Williams led off with a double, Atlee walked and the runners moved to second and third on a wild pitch without West recording an out.

Craigwick, however, deftly stole a pair of hits on hard-hit grounders and, on the second groundout, the Bears were able to catch pinch-runner Madison Johnson drifting off second base for a double play. That ended the inning and sucked the air out of the Pack’s once-rowdy home crowd.

“The right answer is ‘no, I didn’t doubt anything,’ but when you get in games like that and especially with the lack of hitting we saw in the first two games of the day, some of the hope starts to dissipate,” Fors said. “But they proved me wrong and they showed how much grit and toughness they have.

“Just being able to stick it out over the course of the day, third game of the day, and to be able to come up with that in late innings against a dang good team, I mean, that’s just toughness.”

Fors and his players were emotional after the game, drained mentally and physically after 21 innings of action, and now must find a second wind for today’s action. The Wolfpack plays Great Falls High at 10 a.m. and will see its season end with any loss. If Glacier gets by Great Falls, it will rematch with CMR at noon and need to win two games from the Rustlers to claim a second straight title.

“It’s going to take a lot, a lot of heart, a lot of toughness,” Fors said. “The girls showed me they’re never done.

Williams struck out 39 batters while pitching all 21 innings Friday, including the first 12 she faced against CMR. She allowed only 14 hits.

Williams helped lead the Wolfpack to last year’s state championship, the only one in Glacier history. Fors was the coach of that team, too, but he called Friday’s wild ride as big of a moment.

“As much as I enjoyed winning that title last year, watching them come back in this game after the day that we’ve had, that’s an all-time high for me in softball,” he said. “I’d put it right up there … It came a bit easier to us last year at the state tournament. They’ve had to fight for it this year and I’m so proud of them.

“(It ranks) right at the top.”

First round

Great Falls 14, Capital 13

Capital 110 470 0 — 13 14 1

Great Falls 034 700 x — 14 10 1

Toree Rensmon, Nicole Ames (4), Rensmon (5) and Rena Belcourt. Erin Hocker, Molly Schmitz (4) and McKenzie Staats.

CAPITAL — Kamrin Rosling 0-4, Madi Quick 1-4, Taylor Mathews 2-4, Shelby Martin 1-4, Jaley Priddy 2-4, Emily Hill 2-4, Caroline Rosling 2-4, Rensmon 2-4, Belcourt 2-4.

GREAT FALLS — Marihelen Held 0-4, Madylynn Ray 0-2, Tanaya Krenik 1-4, Cayley Bushong 2-3, Staats 2-4, Schmitz 3-4, Sarah Conway 1-3, Hocker 0-1, Veda Root 1-3.

2B—Rensmon, Belcourt. Staats. HR—Hill, Priddy, C. Rosling, Rensmon. Conway, Bushong, Schmitz. RBIs—Quick 1, Mathews 3, Priddy 3, Hill 1, Rosling 1, Rensmon 3, Belcourt 1. Krenik 1, Bushong 3, Staats 1, Schmitz 3, Conway 3, Hocker 1, Root 2.

Big Sky 7, Senior 1

Senior 000 000 1 — 1 4 0

Big Sky 005 200 x — 7 5 1

Ellie Ostermiller and Kylee Hergenrider. Macey Newbary and Morgan Johnson.

SENIOR — Payton Meyer 0-3, Sydney Norwood 0-3, Brittanee Fisher 0-2, Grace Ostermiller 1-3, Hergenrider 2-3, E. Ostermiller 0-2, Allyssa Treglown 0-3, Lauren Gordon 1-2, Jeanann Lemelin 0-1.

BIG SKY — Newbary 2-3, Kendall Mooney 0-4, Johnson 2-2, Jamie Schafer 0-0, Kendall Rauk 0-3, Chelsea Todd 2-3, Kiley Snow 0-3, Quincy Preston 0-1, Natalie Schwab 0-3.

2B—Newbary, Johnson 2. HR—Hergenrider. Todd. RBIs—Hergenrider. Rauk, Todd 4.

Second round

C.M. Russell 1, Glacier 0

CMR 000 000 1 — 1 2 0

Glacier 000 000 0 — 0 3 1

Courtney Schroeder and Katie Huisman. Ali Williams and Christine Connolly.

CMR — Savanna Voyles 0-2, Brenna Bushard 0-3, Myla Robbins 1-3, Huisman 0-3, Schroeder 0-3, Kayci Edwards 0-3, Julianna Gonzales 0-2, Kierstin Evenson 1-2.

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

2B—Connolly. HR—Robbins. RBIs—Robbins.

Great Falls 5, Big Sky 4

Big Sky 002 110 0 ­— 4 9 3

Great Falls 000 122 x — 5 6 2

Newbary and Johnson. Hocker and Staats.

BIG SKY — Newbary 1-4, Mooney 1-4, Johnson 3-3, Schafer 2-4, Rauk 1-3, Todd 0-4, Snow 0-3, Preston 1-3, Schwab 0-3.

GREAT FALLS — Held 2-4, Ray 0-3, Krenik 1-3, Bushong 1-3, Staats 0-3, Schmitz 1-3, Hocker 0-3, Conway 0-2, Root 1-2.

2B—Held 2, Krenik, Bushong. 3B—Preston. HR—Johnson 2. RBIs—Johnson 3. Held, Bushong, Root.

Loser-out

Glacier 4, West 3

Glacier 001 000 3 — 4 7 2

West 101 000 1 — 3 7 1

Ali Williams and Christine Connolly (G). Kendyl Boltz and Kylee Koch (BW). W — Williams. L — Boltz.

GLACIER — Anna Schrade 1-4, Erin McHugh 1-4, Williams 1-2, Alivia Atlee 1-3, Connolly 0-4, Christina DuFour 1-3, Emma Shew 1-3, Kali Gulick 0-2, Meg Hornby 1-2.

BILLINGS WEST — MacKenzie Mayhood 2-4, Cody Rogers 1-2, Sophie Richardson 2-4, Boltz 0-4, Jenna Craigwick 0-3, Koch 2-3, Madison Harris 2-3, Kira Drake 0-3, Alexis Ford 0-3.

2B — McHugh, Williams, Atlee, Shew, Hornby (G); Koch 2, Mayhood (BW). HR — Rogers (BW). RBIs — Atlee 2, McHugh, Hornby (G); Richardson 2, Rogers (BW).

West 10, Helena 1

Helena 000 001 0 — 1 4 0

West 034 201 x — 10 7 0

Terra Gilchrist, Julie Shepherd (3) and Jordan Hinman. Kendyl Boltz and Kinzee Koch.

HELENA — Hinman 0-3, Jamie Pickens 0-4, Emma Meredith 1-3, Taryn Holland 2-2, Shepherd 1-3, Hailey Crawford 0-1, Anna Fischer 1-2, Sam Holman 0-2, Addie Slanger 0-2, Vanessa Wash 0-1.

WEST — Mackenzie Mayood 0-4, Cody Rogers 2-3, Lexi Mayhood 2-3, Boltz 0-1, Jenna Cragwick 1-3, Koch 1-3, Madison Harris 1-3, Kira Drake 0-3, Alexis Ford 0-2.

2B—Holland. HR—Holland. L. Mayhood. RBIs—Holland. L. Mayhood 2, Boltz, Harris 2.

Capital 7, Senior 0

Senior 000 000 0 — 0 5 4

Capital 100 132 x — 7 8 0

E. Ostermiller and Hergenrider. Martin and Priddy.

SENIOR — Meyer 1-4, Norwood 0-3, Fisher 0-2, G. Ostermiller 1-3, Hergenrider 0-3, E. Ostermiller 1-3, Treglown 0-3, Gordon 1-2, Lemelin 1-3.

CAPITAL — K. Rosling 1-2, Quick 0-4, Mathews 0-3, Martin 1-3, Priddy 1-3, Hill 1-4, C. Rosling 1-3, Rensmon 3-3, Belcourt 0-3.

2B—Treglown. Priddy, Rensmon. HR—Hill. RBIs—Martin 2, Priddy, Hill, Rensmon.

West 12, Big Sky 9

West 300 303 3 — 12 12 2

Big Sky 300 131 1 — 9 3 4

L. Mayhood and Koch. Newbary, Kaylee Rosenbaum (5) and Johnson.

WEST — M. Mayhood 3-3, Rogers 1-4, L. Mayhood 1-4, Boltz 3-4, Cragwick 0-3, Koch 2-4, Harris 1-3, Drake 1-3, Ford 0-3.

BIG SKY — Newbary 1-2, Brylee Meisinger 0-3, Johnson 0-4, Schafer 0-2, Mooney 1-2, Rauk 0-3, Todd 0-2, Preston 0-2, Schwab 1-2.

2B—M. Mayhood, Boltz, Koch. Schwab. HR—M. Mayhood, Boltz 2. RBIs—M. Mayhood 3, Rogers, Boltz 5, Cragwick, Harris. Mooney, Schwab 2.

Glacier 1, Capital 0

Glacier 010 000 0 — 1 3 0

Capital 000 000 0 — 0 4 0

Williams and Connolly. Martin and Priddy.

GLACIER — Williams 0-3, McHugh 1-3, Atlee 0-3, Schrade 0-3, Connolly 1-3, Monroe 0-2, Sarah Frandsen 0-1, Shew 1-2, Hornby 0-2, DuFour 0-2.

CAPITAL — K. Rosling 1-3, Quick 0-3, Mathews 0-3, Martin 1-3, Priddy 0-3, Hill 1-2, C. Rosling 1-3, Rensmon 0-3, Belcourt 0-2.

2B—McHugh. HR—Connolly. RBI—Connolly.

Semifinals

C.M. Russell 7, Great Falls 6

CMR 010 130 2 ­— 7 11 0

Great Falls 030 003 0 — 6 13 0

Schroeder and Huisman. Hocker and Staats.

CMR — Voyles 1-2, Julia Schearer 0-3, Robbins 1-4, Huisman 4-4, Schroeder 3-4, Edwards 0-3, Bushard 1-1, Gonzales 0-0, Laura Poitra 0-3, Evenson 1-3.

GREAT FALLS — Held 1-4, Ray 2-4, Krenik 1-3, Bushong 3-3, Staats 0-3, Schmitz 2-4, Hocker 1-3, Larocque 0-1, Conway 2-3, Root 1-4.

2B—Huisman 2, Voyles. Schmitz. HR—Huisman, Schroeder. Krenik. RBIs—Huisman 3, Schroeder, Edwards. Ray, Krenik 3, Hocker.