RESULTS--SAT., 5-23
May 24, 2009 Northwest Montana A Conference
RESULTS--SAT., 5-23
COLUMBIA FALLS 6 WHITEFISH 4
RONAN WHITEFISH
Key plays lift Kats in finale By DIXIE KNUTSON/The Daily Inter LakePublished: Sunday, May 24, 2009 1:09 AM CDT
COLUMBIA FALLS - All the right plays at the right times.
The Columbia Falls Wildkats made some of their own breaks Saturday, downing visiting Whitefish 6-4 in the Wildkats' final regular season Western A softball game.
"You've got to find ways to win and that's what we did," said Columbia Falls coach Dave Kehr.
"Key plays when we needed them and key hits. And they made some errors," he said.
The Wildkats had just five hits and received no walks, but made the most of what opportunities they did have. Those included five Whitefish errors.
Columbia Falls scored two runs in second inning - one of those runners got aboard on an error, reached second on a passed ball and scored on a wild pitch.
Their biggest shot - although not the one that traveled the furthest - came in the third inning by right fielder Shaun Rowe.
Columbia Falls scored three runs in the inning - Rowe batted two of those in when she blasted a triple into right. She scored on Cassidee Skiles' infield single.
"That was a big hit at the time," Kehr said.
Heaven knows the Bulldogs gave themselves chances at the plate - they outhit the Wildkats 13 to five and had a pair of doubles.
"For not having anything to play for other than pride, they played pretty well," Whitefish coach Alan Compton said of the Bulldogs.
"They showed up and they played hard. I'm happy. I'm proud of them," Compton added.
The Bulldogs had a huge fifth inning with five hits and three runs.
Carolyn Sharpe and Taylor Ybarra-Brunty hit back-to-back doubles.
"Taylor did a good job. She hasn't played much since she broke her cheek. She did well. She hit well - a lot of courage, she showed that today," Compton said.
"A few more made plays here or there, not as many base-running errors and who knows what the outcome is," he said.
"Base-running errors hurt us more than anything," he said.
Columbia Falls catcher Amber James picked one runner off at first base and another off at third. All in all, she was involved in three putouts.
"Amber ... my goodness. That's a lot (of putouts' for a catcher. She helps us out defensively," Kehr said.
She also helped out offensively - a fifth-inning home run that basically shut the door on Whitefish's hopes.
"Feels great," James said of winning the final home game of her high school career.
"(The Bulldogs' have been doing a lot better. We weren't quite worried, but we were ready," she said.
Whitefish finished its season on Saturday, but the Wildkats will continue on with the Class A state tournament next weekend in Polson.
"We feel good about going into state. We've just got to clean a few things up and play well. We're 18-4. That's a lot of wins. It's a good season, no matter what," Kehr said.
Whitefish 000 030 1 - 4135
Columbia Falls 023 010 x 661
Kaitlyn Wehrli and Hailey Mortensen. Morgan Rowe and Amber James. W - Rowe. L - Wehrli.
WHITEFISH - Madison Tveidt 3-4, Kristi Whisler 2-4, Kaitlyn Wehrli 2-4, Hailey Mortensen 0-3, Nicole Schelling 1-3, Shannon Holmes 1-3, Callie Marsh 1-3, Carolyn Sharpe 2-2, Madison Cross 0-1, Taylor Ybarra-Brunty 1-2. 2B - Sharpe, Ybarra-Brunty. RBIs - Wehrli 1, Ybarra-Brunty 2, Whisler 1.
COLUMBIA FALLS - Tia Yaeger 0-4, Renae Nelson 0-3, Amanda Milliard 1-3, Amber James 1-3, Kayla Stinger 2-3, Shaun Rowe 1-3, Cassidee Skiles 1-3, Erika Nelson 0-3, Cedar Smith 0-3. HR - Amber James. 3B - Shaun Rowe. RBIs - James 1, Rowe 2, Skiles 1, Smith 1.
Ronan 9, Whitefish 1
At Whitefish, the Central A co-champion Maidens closed the season on a positive note as Kaylee Larson led them past Western A Whitefish in each school's regular-season finale.
Larson tossed a complete-game two-hitter for Ronan (13-5), walking one and fanning nine to improve to 13-3. At the plate Larson hit a two-run homer in the fifth.
Jordan Strozzi went 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI for the Maidens, who take their league's second seed to Thursday's State A tournament in Polson and face Libby in the first round. Kelsey Clairmont added two RBIs and two singles for Ronan.
Kaitlyn Wehrli had a single and an RBI for the Bulldogs.
Ronan 101 021 4 - 9 8 1
Whitefish 100 000 0 - 1 2 5
Kaylee Larson and Jordan Strozzi. Carolyn Sharpe and Hailey Mortensen. W - Larson (13-3). L - Sparpe.
RONAN - Kelsey Clairmont 2-4, Larson 1-3, Strozzi 2-4, April Soukup 1-2, Katie Andrews 1-4, Brittany Clairmont 0-3, Lindsay Clairmont 0-1, Amanda Bartel 0-4, Chelsey Bourdon 0-3, Paige Delrauenti 0-1, Dani Crocket 1-2, Bethany Coleman 0-1.
WHITEFISH - Madison Tveidt 0-1, Kristi Whisler 0-3, Kaitlyn Wehrli 1-3, Mortensen 0-2, Nicole Schelling 0-3, Shannon Holmes 1-3, Heather Bailey 0-3, Sharpe 0-2, Taylor Ybarra-Brunty 0-2.
2B - Strozzi. HR - Larson. RBIs - Wehrli, K. Clairmont 2, Larson 2, Strozzi, Andrews, Bartel.
| STANDINGS | OVERALL | | CONFERENCE | | OVERALL | CONFERENCE | | POLSON | 18 | 3 | 9 | 1 | 85.71% | 90.00% | | COL FALLS | 18 | 4 | 8 | 2 | 81.82% | 80.00% | | HAVRE | 12 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 66.67% | 60.00% | | LIBBY | 11 | 11 | 4 | 6 | 50.00% | 40.00% | | WHITEFISH | 6 | 15 | 3 | 7 | 28.57% | 30.00% | | BROWNING | 1 | 17 | 0 | 10 | 5.56% | 0.00% |
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