Loggers bash Bravettes, 15-2

Libby’s current stretch of five nonconference games has brought out the creative side of longtime head coach Dean Thompson.

He’s shuffled lineups, moved players to different positions and tested various strategies, the hope being those experiences will yield positive results if players are called upon to produce in an unfamiliar spot later in conference play, or the playoffs.

But if Tuesday afternoon’s trip to Flathead is any indication, Thompson won’t have to wait long to see his moves pay dividends.

Libby rocked the host Bravettes for 19 hits in a 15-2 softball victory that was shortened to five innings by run rule.

“We’re kind of moving girls around to see who we can hit the ball,” Thompson said.

“Sometimes we get locked in when we’re playing everybody (in conference), but this kind of opens it up. We can throw different girls in different positions and stuff. Hopefully after this stretch and going back into conference games after that, it kind of helps us know that we can maybe put this person there and the other person there. It’s a good thing.”

It certainly was a good thing for the Loggers in this game, as they found production against both Flathead pitchers on a clear, breezy day at the Kidsports Complex in north Kalispell.

Emily Carvey and Sammee Bradeen led Libby’s offensive outbreak with three hits and four RBIs apiece.

Carvey put the Loggers (5-3 overall, 3-2 Northwest A) on the board in the first inning with a two-run double over the Flathead left fielder’s head.

Bradeen, batting directly behind Carvey, drove in another run with a bloop single as part of Libby’s four-run opening frame.

Bradeen drove in Carvey with an RBI double to left-center field in the Loggers’ four-run fourth, and both sluggers were among seven consecutive Loggers to reach base in a five-run outburst in the top of the fifth that put the run rule in effect.

Carvey ripped a two-run double, her third two-bagger of the game, down the left-field line, and Bradeen followed with a two-run double of her own.

Linsey Walker and Sheyla Gallagher also chipped in three hits for Libby, and Jayden Winslow and Haylee Cannon each logged two hits.

“We kept putting people on, and we were starting to hit the ball and hitting it in the gap,” Thompson said of his team’s success at the plate in the later innings.

“When you see a pitcher the third or fourth time, you know how she’s throwing.”

Khalyn Hageness handled things for the Loggers in the circle, and she met little resistance from Flathead’s lineup.

She allowed only four hits while striking out seven over five innings of work. Most of the trouble she did run into stemmed from the four walks she submitted.

“She keeps her composure,” Thompson said.

“She struggled a little bit on some of her pitches and was getting the ball a little high. She learned she just needs to be a little patient, just hang in there and throw.”

Flathead (3-7 overall, 1-5 Western AA) cracked the scoreboard in the second inning thanks to Libby’s lone error of the evening, and the Bravettes scored again in the bottom of the fourth when Riley Chouinard drove in Jayden Russell with a single to left field.

“We did have some good at-bats against (Hageness),” Flathead coach Jack Foster said.

“Even some of the kids who struggled a little bit and may have gotten out, at least they battled. That’s kind of a step for some of these kids. We’ve got a lot of kids who haven’t played a whole lot of higher level softball, and they’re getting better.”

Foster hopes that improvement continues on Thursday afternoon, when Flathead hosts Missoula Sentinel and Missoula Big Sky at 3 p.m. and 5 p.m., respectively.

Libby will try to build on its nonconference momentum at the Frenchtown Tournament this weekend. The Loggers begin play at 2 p.m. Friday against Butte Central.

“These are good games for us,” Thompson said of Tuesday’s affair. “We like to bump up and play these AA (schools). It gives us a good challenge.”

Libby 411 45 — 15 19 1

Flathead 010 10 — 2 5 2

WP — Khalyn Hageness. LP — Karissa Comer.

LIBBY — Linsey Walker 3-4, Khalyn Hageness 1-3, Jayden Winslow 2-4, Emily Carvey 3-4, Sammee Bradeen 3-4, Haylee Cannon 2-4, Sheyla Gallagher 3-4, McKenzie Proffitt 1-4, Bethany Thomas 1-3, Samantha Miller 0-1.

FLATHEAD — Jayden Russell 1-2, Riley Chouinard 1-3, Kaileigh Denna 0-3, Hailey Junk 1-2, Karissa Comer 1-3, Alyssa Cadwalader 0-2, Kayla Kallis 0-1, Kate Smith 0-1, Haylee Learn 0-1, Kyann Devera 1-2.

2B — Winslow, Carvey 3, Bradeen 2, Gallagher, Thomas. Russell. RBI — Walker, Winslow 2, Carvey 4, Bradeen 4, Gallagher, Proffitt. Chouinard.