Lady Bulldogs go 3-1 over weekend

By DAVID ERICKSON / Whitefish Pilot

On Friday, the Lady Bulldogs knocked four balls out of the park in two games to kick off the Frenchtown Invitational Softball tournament. It turned out to be a good omen, as the Whitefish gals went 3-1 on the weekend, losing only to the host team.

"It could have only gone one game better," head coach David Dachs said.

After losing to Frenchtown 3-13 in Friday's opener, the Whitefish girls beat up on Florence 16-6.

They bounced back on Friday, however, taking Anaconda down 4-3 in a nail-biter and dispatching Ronan 6-2 to finish strong.

The Lady Bulldogs committed zero errors in their two games on Saturday.

Against Frenchtown, senior Devyn Ost hit her third home run of the year.

Later on against Florence, pitcher Torey Ost drilled one out of the park, and senior catcher Desiree Clarke belted two homers of her own.

Dachs said the fence was about 200 feet from the plate. It was the first homers of the year for both Torey Ost and Clarke.

"To have four home runs on Friday got us all excited," he said. "I told the girls afterward that the only thing that could make me more happy is to hit 15 singles."

Dachs said the pitchers they faced were average-speed throwers, but the Frenchtown girl had a little bit better location on her ball.

The game against Anaconda was a long defensive struggle, as the Lady Copperheads matched the Lady Bulldogs run-for-run.

"We led the whole way, but we just couldn't get separation on them," Dachs explained. "We had a one-run lead on them, and that's the way it ended up."

Devyn Ost went 3-for-3 against Anaconda, and Hailey Mortensen drove in two runs for the Lady Bulldogs. Whitefish out hit the Anaconda team 10-0.

Adele FauntLeRoy and Clarke both stole home for Whitefish in the sixth inning against Ronan.

"We performed well," Dachs said. "I was real happy with how we played. Our defense was outstanding. We just need to be a little bit more consistent on hitting."

The Lady Bulldogs take on Browning and Polson at home this weekend. Dachs said he feels good about his squad's chances against Polson, who the Lady Bulldogs played tight two weekends ago.

"We were hanging in there against Polson, we just need to bring our A-game," he said.

Whitefish 030 00 — 3 4 NA

Frenchtown 273 01 — 13 17 NA

Torey Ost and Desiree Clarke; Courtney Hochekan and Kristy Kees; W — Hochekan. L — Ost.

Whitefish — Adele FauntLeRoy 0-3, T. Ost 0-3, Clarke 1-3, Shannon Holmes 0-2, Hailey Mortensen 1-2, Devyn Ost 1-2, Taylor Ybarra-Brunty 1-1, Kristi Whisler 0-1, Camille Williams 0-2.

2B—Clarke, Mortensen; Russ, Farmer; 3B—Ybarra-Brunty; HR—D. Ost; RBIs—D. Ost, Whisler; NA for Frenchtown

Florence 051 00 — 6 8 NA

Whitefish 343 51 — 16 11 NA

Kelsi Hoagland and Shanna Moore; T. Ost and Clarke; W — T. Ost; L — Hoagland.

Whitefish — FauntLeRoy 4-4, T. Ost 1-2, Clarke 4-4, Holmes 0-1, Mortensen 1-3, D. Ost 1-2, Ybarra-Brunty 0-3, Shelbi Long 0-3, Camille Williams 0-1, Nicole Schelling 0-0.

2B—Rolshoven; FauntLeRoy; HRs—T. Ost, Clarke (2); RBIs—NA.

Whitefish 202 000 0 — 4 10 0

Anaconda 102 000 0 — 3 0 0

Torey Ost and Desiree Clarke; Kirsti King and Lisa Laslovich; W — Ost, 5-5; L — King.

Whitefish — Adele FauntLeRoy 1-4, T. Ost 1-4, Clarke 2-2, Hailey Mortensen 1-3, Devyn Ost 3-3, Taylor Ybarra-Brunty 0-2, Kristi Whisler 0-3, Camille Williams 1-3, Shannon Holmes 1-2.

2B—Clarke (2), Mortensen, Holmes; Wagner, King; RBIs—Mortensen (2), D. Ost; Wagner (2), King.

Whitefish 000 003 3 — 6 6 0

Ronan 010 001 0 — 2 4 0

T. Ost and Clarke; Abby Luke, Karli Starkel (6), Allison Crenshaw (7) and Kirsten Cordier; W — Ost, 6-5; L — Luke.

WHITEFISH — FauntLeRoy 2-4, T. Ost 1-4, Clarke 2-3, Mortensen 0-2, D. Ost 1-4, Ybarra-Brunty 0-3, Shelbi Long 0-3, Williams 0-2, Holmes 0-2.

2B—FauntLeRoy; RBIs—FauntLeRoy, D. Ost; Starkel.