Polson starts baseball season with title rematch, win
Polson started the 2024 baseball season where they left off in 2023, with a 15-8 win over Whitefish on Friday afternoon in Polson.
The rematch up last May’s first-ever MHSA baseball championship game — won by Polson 10-4 — turned the Pirates' way in the bottom of the third inning, when they scored 10 runs.
Two hit batters and a walk set things up, and Hunter Emerson’s two-run double put Polson ahead for good, 4-3.
Cole Haggard followed with an RBI single and then, with two out, Polson sent seven more batters to the plate. Zak Muzquiz and Aiden Gfroerer hit two-run singles and Cole Wadsworth and Espn Fisher each had run-scoring base hits to make it 11-3.
Emerson and Muzquiz each drove in three; Gfroerer had four hits and scored thee times; Haggard had three hits, including a solo home run in the second.
Tait Orme had three hits and drove in two runs for Whitefish, and CJ Thew had two hits and scored twice for the Bulldogs.
The game kicked off a busy weekend in Polson, where on Saturday the Pirates beat Belgrade 10-8, and Belgrade topped Whitefish 15-1.
Polson 10, Belgrade 8
The Pirates took advantage of two Belgrade errors in the sixth inning, scoring twice to break an 8-8 tie. The key play was a muffed popup hit by Fisher with the bases loaded and two out. Muzquiz and Holden Emerson scored on the misplay.
Fisher drove in two runs aside, as did Emerson, who had three hits. Both players hit doubles as did Wadsworth. Landon Shoemake recorded the final two outs in the seventh to get the save against the Panthers.
Belgrade 15, Whitefish 1
Tait Orme had two hits and drove in the Bulldogs’ lone run (Ryan Conklin), as Whitefish was held to five hits by the Panthers.
Columbia Falls 7, Hamilton 6
On Saturday in Hamilton, the Wildcats rallied from a 5-3 deficit behind three hits from AC Chilson and two runs by Reggie Sapa.
Cody Schweikert rapped out two hits for Columbia Falls, and scored a big seventh run on Dayne Tu’s sacrifice fly in the sixth inning. The Broncs, down 7-5, got one run back in its half of the sixth on Boedy Tadvick’s RBI single, but then went down in order in the seventh against Wildcat pitcher Kellen Kroger, who struck out five in three innings of work and got the win.
Chilson and Jett Pitts each hit doubles.