Labrum scores six for Pack

In the battle of crooked numbers that was Tuesday’s crosstown softball game at Kidsports, Flathead ran out of them early and Glacier kept them coming.

Sammie Labrum homered, doubled twice, drove in four runs and scored six times for the Wolfpack, who outscored the Bravettes 21-9.

Kenadie Goudette had four hits, including a double, and scored four times out of the cleanup spot.

Glacier coupled 18 hits with 15 walks issued by Flathead’s two pitchers to improve to 9-9, and 4-8 in Western AA games. The Bravettes countered with six hits, three hit batters and nine walks. They also had a golden opportunity slip away with the score tied 6-6 and fell to 3-15, 2-10.

Flathead, as home team, struck for four runs in the first inning to claim a 4-2 lead. Mackenzie Brandt’s single to left that skipped past the outfielder to the fence, clearing the bases, was the key knock.

The lead didn’t last long, as Labrum came up after Alli Kernan doubled and smoked a pitch to right-center for her fourth homer of the season. It was 4-4.

“She just had a fantastic hitting performance tonight,” Glacier coach Abby Connolly said. “She works incredibly hard at it in practice, every rep, and it’s nice when you see it pay off like it did.”

Emma Cooke followed with a single and Goudette doubled to keep the rally going, and both scored to make it 6-4.

Flathead wasn’t done: With two outs in the third the Bravettes worked Ella Farrell — she’d come on in relief in that hectic first inning — for three walks and a hit batter to tie the game 6-6. Up next was Macy Craver and her .420 batting average. She swung at Farrell’s next pitch and grounded out.

Glacier broke in front 7-6 on Goudette’s RBI single in the fourth, then added five runs in the fifth and four more in the sixth. The fifth-inning runs were unearned — Flathead put two of the first three hitters on with errors — but the base knocks kept coming after that.

Labrum had an RBI double in the sixth and seventh innings.

“Hitting is contagious, right?” asked Connolly, who saw Cooke, Zoey Allen, Teagan Powell and Kernan all get multiple hits. “(Labrum) gets those hits and our sophomores start getting theirs. That’s the kind of offensive performance we’ve been hoping would happen for a while.”

Flathead battled, with Brandt and Craver scoring twice each. Farrell threw 6 2/3 innings, allowing four hits and seven walks. She fanned 12.

“She battled through a lot of adversity this year,” Connolly said of the sophomore, who remains one of the harder throwers around. “I think her last couple performances were solid. Perfect time, as we head into the postseason.

“I think we punched our ticket tonight, too, to be the sixth seed.”

Glacier has a Friday home game against Missoula Sentinel at 4:45 p.m., then a Saturday afternoon (1:15 p.m.) game at Butte to close the regular season.

Flathead plays Missoula Big Sky Thursday at 4:45 p.m. at Kidsports, and is the nightcap for Butte’s Saturday doubleheader.

Glacier 240 154 5 - 21 18 1

Flathead 411 011 1 - 9 6 3

Alli Kernan, Ella Farrell (2) and Brooklyn Imperato. Lacie Franklin, Ava B essen (6) and Bessen, Laynee Vesser (6).

GLACIER — Imperato 0-4, Nakiah Persinger 0-0, Sammie Labrum 4-5, Avery Anderson 0-1, Emma Cooke 2-6, Kenadie Gouodette 4-5, Paishance Haller 1-1, Farrell 1-3, Zoey Allen 2-4, Teagan Powell 2-5, Morgan Vivian 0-1, Kernan 2-5, Bella Hodous 0-0.

FLATHEAD — Macy Craver 1-4, Vessar 1-4, Bessen 0-4, Kaidyn Lake 1-5, Mackenzie Brandt 1-2, Ellie Eve 1-3, Lyssa Leimkuehler 1-2, Franklin 0-3, Brynn Mailman 0-0, Teegan Carlon 0-1.

2B — Labrum 2, Kernan, Cooke, Haller, Allen, Leimkuehler. 3B — Vessar. HR — Labrum. RBIs — Labrum 4, Allen 3, Powell 3, Farrell 2, Boudette 2, Cooke, Vessar 2, Brandt, Eve, Leimkuehler, Mailman.