Belgrade levels up and wins 4th straight

Champions again are the Belgrade Panthers, who leveled up and showed they belong by beating Billings Senior 5-3 Saturday in the State AA softball championship game at KidSport.

The Panthers took a 5-0 lead and weathered a few rallies, including in the seventh when the Broncs (22-8) closed to 5-3 and had runners on second and third with one out.

Panthers’ pitcher Ella Seaman, who went the distance, retired the next two hitters on infield pop-ups and it was over.

Belgrade won the last three State A titles (2017-19) before moving up in AA in 2020; last spring’s softball season was canceled by the pandemic. The Panthers advanced to the championship with a 7-5 win over the Broncs Friday, then absorbed a 13-3 defeat to Senior earlier Saturday to force the “if-necessary” tilt.

One game after getting 14 hits against the Belgrade tandem of Tayler Thomas and Seaman, Senior got 11 more but couldn’t rally.

Belgrade 5, Senior 3

Belgrade jumped ahead 2-0 on Senior on Elizabeth Ybarra’s 2-run single in the bottom of the second inning.

Down 5-0, Senior got a runner to third in the fourth inning and didn’t score, then loaded the bases in the fifth but pushed across just one run, on Kara Conway’s RBI single.

In the seventh, Senior had four straight singles with one out. Hollis Baker and Paige Opp each drove in runs to cut the gap to 5-3, and they moved to second and third, leaving Opp as the tying runs. Both runners were stranded.

Seaman issued three walks as well and struck out just one, but Belgrade’s generally excellent defense backed her up.

Meanwhile the Panthers managed just four hits, but bunched three together in the second inning, got an unearned run in the third and saw Tayler Thomas’ double spark a 2-run fourth.

They also kept the pressure on by putting the ball in play against hard-throwing Kennedy Venner, who managed four strikeouts.

Senior 000 010 2 - 3 11 1

Belgrade 021 200 0 - 5 4 1

Ella Seamon and Shaylis Osler. Kennedy Venner and Hollis Baker.

BILLINGS SENIOR — Isabelle Dillon 2-4, Venner 0-4, Kara Conway 2-4, Dacee Zent 3-4, Baker 2-4, Paige Opp 1-4, Alexis Waddingham 0-4, Darby Mayo 1-4, Vianca Martin 0-3.

BELGRADE — Kenna Thomas 0-3, Kamie Gorrell 0-3, Tyclee Bowler 0-3, Maddie Tomasetti 0-3, Tayler Thomas 1-3, Arin Eaton 1-3, Shaylis Osler 1-3, Elizabeth Ybarra 1-2, Talyn Campbell 0-2.

2B — Dillon, Osler. T. Thomas. RBI — Conway, Baker, Opp, Ybarra 2, Gorrell, Osler.

Senior 13, Belgrade 3

Dacee Zent set the tone with a 3-run homer in the first, then added a 2-run shot in a 6-run sixth inning that put the game out of reach.

In between, Kara Conway hit a 2-run homer in the fifth and a 2-run double in the sixth; she was on base for Zent’s second blast. Conway had four RBIs. The game ended after six innings under the 10-run rule.

Belgrade struck first, getting a leadoff single from Kenna Thomas, who scored on Maddie Tomasetti’s base hit. Tomasetti added a 2-run homer in the fifth to cut Senior’s lead to 7-3.

Veneer fanned six while scattering eight hits. She hit one batter and walked none.

Senior 302 026 - 13 14 1

Belgrade 100 020 - 3 8 2

T. Thomas, Seaman (5), T. Thomas (6) and Osler. Venner and Baker.

SENIOR — Dillon 0-4, Veneer 2-4, Conway 23-4, Zent 2-4, Baker 1-4, Opp 2-4, Waddingham 0-4, Mayo 2-3, Martin 0-3.

BELGRADE — K. Thomas 1-4, Gorrell 0-3, Bowler 1-3, Tomasetti 3-3, T. Thomas 0-3, Eaton 2-3, Osler 0-3, Ybarra 1-3, Campbell 0-3.

HR — Zent 2, Conway, Tomasetti. RBI — Zent 5, Conway 4, Baker, Opp, Waddingham, Venner, Tomasetti 3..

Senior 5, Sentinel 1

Zent was again an offensive force for the Broncs, hitting an RBI triple in the first inning, a sacrifice fly in the third and an RBI single in Senior’s 2-run fifth.

Sentinel starter Charlee Hoover gave up six hits and four runs (two earned) in four innings. She and reliever Grace Hardy combined to fan 11 hitters.

Hardy scored the Spartans’ lone run, when she doubled to lead off the fourth and came in on Addy Gaub’s two-out single. Gaub went 3-for-3.

Venner struck out 12 Spartans. Sentinel ended up 23-5.

Senior 102 020 0 - 5 9 0

Sentinel 000 100 0 - 1 4 2

Venner and Baker. Hoover, Hardy (5) and Ries.

SENIOR — Dillon 1-4, Venner 3-4, Conway 1-4, Zent 2-3, Baker 1-3, Opp 0-3, Waddingham 1-3, Mayo 0-3, Martin 0-3.

MISSOULA SENTINEL — Hardy 1-3, Wolsky 0-3, Fraser 0-3, Gaub 3-3, Dypwick 0-0, Kay 0-3, Taylor 0-3, Reis 0-2 0-2, Schweitzer 0-0, Holmes 0-2, Summerfield 0-0, Wright 0-2.

2B — Dillon, Hardy. 3B — Zent. RBI — Zent 3, Baker, Gaub.