Softball team hits a rough patch

The Wildkat softball team had a tough time getting the bats going and they lost three games out of four last week. The lone win came against Stevensville Saturday when they beat the Yellowjackets, 12-4.

The Kats started out the week with a tough loss to rival Whitefish 4-2 in eight innings. Whitefish took an early 2-0 lead, but the Kats scored a run in the bottom of the third and tied it in the bottom of the sixth. The Kats had chances to blow the game open, with runners on second and third on a few occasions. They just couldn't get them across the plate.

Senior pitcher Morgan Rowe went the distance and had an excellent game, but just didn't get much help from the offense.

Friday the Kats lost to Polson 7-1 at home. Polson built a 4-0 lead after six innings. The Kats scored their first run in the bottom of the sixth to make it 4-1, but the Pirates added three insurance runs in the top of the seventh to seal the win.

Saturday the Kats had more problems against Libby, losing 17-6 after the Loggers scored 11 runs in the top of the sixth. The game was closer than the score would suggest. Columbia Falls shot out to an early 3-0 lead in the first, Libby scored two in the top of the third and four in the top of the fourth to make it 6-4.

The girls salvaged the week with a 12-4 win over Stevensville. The Kats had a 7-0 lead after three innings and Stevi never threatened.

The three conference losses drop the Kats to 2-4 in Northwest A and 7-7 overall. The top three teams in the conference get a state tournament berth. Right now, the Kats are a game behind Libby for third with two divisional games to play. They travel to Butte for a tourney this weekend and then wrap up the regular season with an away game against Polson and a home game against Ronan May 20 and 21.

Libby wraps up their season against Whitefish and Polson. If the Loggers beat either one of those teams, they would knock Columbia Falls out of the playoffs.