Lady 'Dogs make early exit at state
Whitefish's fearless run through the 2010 softball season ended abruptly Thursday at the state Class A playoffs in Billings.
The No. 3 seeded Lady Bulldogs dropped their opener to Corvallis 12-2 and lost to Laurel 7-2 in the loser-out round. The girls finished their season 8-14 overall with a 4-4 conference record, behind Polson and Libby. The Lady Pirates defeated Belgrade 6-3 for the state championship.
"It came down to a lack of experience and not knowing how to perform at that next level," Whitefish coach Alan Compton said about the early exit. "I asked the girls on Wednesday, 'How many girls, in any sport, have been to a state tournament?' Three girls raised their hand. There are a lot of nerves and jitters that come along with playing at state."
Corvallis put Whitefish away early when they took advantage of fielding errors and scored seven unearned runs en route to the 10-run win. Against Laurel, Compton said the 'Dogs "were a little bit unlucky."
Laurel had only two solid hits, Compton explained, and the rest were bloopers that fell just out of reach.
"We also didn't hit well or adjust to the umpire's strike zone," he said.
Despite the unfavorable results at state, Compton said Whitefish can take satisfaction in their unprecedented run up to the playoffs.
"I'm so proud of how far the girls came and what we did with how little we had," Compton said. "It doesn't matter how state ended. It matters that we took very little and made a lot out of it."
Labeled as young at the start of the year — the 'Dogs featured six freshman on their 12-person roster — Whitefish managed to make noise in the league as a serious contender.
Led by the senior trio of Kaitlyn Wehrli, Hailey Mortensen and Shannon Holmes, the Lady 'Dogs knocked off rival Columbia Falls twice and beat the Lady Loggers in Libby for the first time in four seasons.
"It'll be hard to replace those three seniors," Compton said. "They did everything that you could ever ask a senior to do."
Mortensen finished the year with an unbelievable .531 batting average. She had one homer, cracked 24 RBIs and tallied an on-base percentage of .577. Mortensen plans to play softball at the collegiate level this fall for Central Washington University in Wenatchee, Wash.
Wehrli batted .380 for the season, hit three home runs, and as a pitcher tossed 124 strikeouts. She will attend Brigham Young University in Idaho next fall.
Shannon Holmes finished the season with a .377 batting average and by all accounts gave the team's best effort at the state tournament. She hit two homeruns, one in each game, including one coming on her final at-bat as a Bulldog.
"Shannon gets the team MVP for the tournament," Compton said. "Defensively, she had an outstanding game, and she had those two home runs. The scores could have been a lot worse without her."
Holmes will attend college at Montana State University in Bozeman.
Compton said the 2010 campaign was one of the best for Whitefish in the past 8-10 years, and with the possibility of nine returning players, he'd like to see that success snowball into next spring.
"The girls we have returning next year, they're really good, and they have tons of athletic ability," he said. "It boils down to how much they want to work. We have the foundation to build a strong program."
Softball is about muscle memory, he said, and the more the girls work at hitting in the off-season, the easier it will be come next spring.