'Kats face Park at state SB

Columbia Falls is on a mission on the softball diamond during the 2009 Class A State Tournament today (Thursday) through Saturday in Polson. And the Wildkats (8-2 conference, 18-4 overall) will go as far as five seniors and their supporting cast will take them.

With the No. 2 seed from the Western A, Wildkats face Park County (Livingston) — No. 4 in the East — at 1 p.m. today. The winner takes on Billings Central, the East's second seed, at 5 p.m. Today's other first-round match-ups: Ronan (#2 Central) vs. Libby (#4 West), 11 a.m.; Frenchtown (#3 West) vs. Havre (#3 Central), 11 a.m.; and Laurel (#3 East) vs. Corvallis (#4 Central). Along with Billings Central, Belgrade (#1 East), Polson (#1 West) and Butte Central (#1 Central) have first-round byes in the double-elimination tourney.

Libby is the defending state champion.

C-Falls returned to the home field for the first time in 13 games Saturday, capping the regular season with a 6-4 victory over Whitefish.

While C-Falls made the key plays, Whitefish did not. The Bulldogs committed five errors and made a number of baserunning mistakes. Whitefish outhit C-Falls 13-5.

Wildkat catcher Amber James picked runners off first and third base in the third inning.

The Wildkats took a 5-0 lead after two innings, but Whitefish got within 5-3 in the fifth. Up stepped James to the plate in the bottom of the inning with one out. James cracked her fifth home run of the season — a 300-foot blast that landed on Talbott Road.

While Morgan Rowe pitched the win, Kaitlyn Wehrli pitched well for the Bulldogs, allowing just five hits. Kayla Stinger had two of them, and Shaun Rowe had a triple.

James, Amanda Milliard, Tia Yaeger, Kayla Stinger and Cedar Smith are the five Wildkat seniors.

"I think we'll do really well this year," James said of the state tourney. "We have the confidence."

What's most important? "Teamwork" was James' answer, and "getting along."

"If we come out aggressive and confident and play our game offensively and defensively we're a pretty hard team to beat," Milliard said. "We don't have drama on this team. When we're playing our game we're strong, rock solid."

C-Falls head coach Dave Kehr concurred with James and Milliard.

"That's our strength," Kehr said of the team chemistry. "It's definitely a team concept.

"We've gotta play well all the way through (the state tourney) and we can," Kehr said.