Kats have favorable draw at state
The Columbia Falls softball team took a big lead early against Libby last week and then held on for a 11-10 victory to take sole possession of second place in the Northwest A division.
The Wildkats finished 16-5 for the regular season and 6-2 in conference and now have a nice draw at the state tournament in Miles City this week.
The Kats had a decidedly up and down week. They lost to Polson 8-1 at home on May 17, but won the crucial game away against Libby on May 19. The Kats shot out to an early 6-1 lead in the first, but the Loggers battled back, scoring three runs in the third and four more in the fourth to tie the game up at eight runs apiece.
The Kats answered with two runs in the top of the fifth and added an insurance run in the top of the sixth. Libby rallied with two more runs in the bottom of the sixth, but it wasn't enough. Shaun Rowe had two home runs and three RBIs, as the Kats' bats woke up after being nearly dormant against the Pirates two days before.
In that game, the girls were held to just two hits by Pirate pitcher Shalaina Duford. It was just one of those games where things that could go wrong went wrong. The Kats had some fielding and base-running errors and they didn't hit. Meanwhile, Polson capitalized on every mistake and got eight hits.
Taking second in the conference sets up a favorable state bracket for the Kats. They open play with a 10 a.m. game against Corvallis on Thursday, and if they can win that game, they face Billings Central at 2 p.m. The Kats have beaten both teams earlier this season at the Butte Central tournament. If the cards play out right, it could set up yet another game against Polson on Friday afternoon.
Col. Falls 600 221 0 - 11 13 1
Libby 103 402 0 - 10 10 5
Shaun Rowe, Jessica Owens (6) and Erika Nelson. Taylor Armstrong and Lexie Hageness. W - Rowe. L - Armstrong. S - Owens.
COLUMBIA FALLS - Owens 3-4, Renae Nelson 1-5, Rowe 2-5, Niki Birky 2-5, Madison Sandefer 1-4, E. Nelson 0-3, Jordan LeFebvre 2-4, Jaylynn Cantu 1-2, Tessa Cowan 0-1, Kathrin Jetty 1-4.
LIBBY - Jaime Gilden 2-4, Hageness 2-3, Kim Tangen 1-3, Alysha Martin 1-2, Taylor Barton 1-3, Armstrong 0-4, Brooke Rosling 0-3, Stacey Oedewaldt 1-4, Alyssa Walker 2-4.
2B - Sandefer, LeFebvre, Hageness. 3B - LeFebvre, Martin. HR - Rowe 2. RBIs - Rowe 3, LeFebvre, Jetty 2, Hageness 2, Tangen, Martin 3, Barton 2.
Polson 140 020 1 - 8 8 1
Columbia Falls 100 000 0 - 1 2 1 1
Shalaina Duford and Kayla Duford. Shaun Rowe and Erika Nelson. W - Duford. L - Rowe.
Polson - Kodi Woods 1-3, Ashley Johnson 0-3, Shalaina Duford 0-4, Sallie Sams 1-2, Kylie Knutson 1-3, Kayla Duford 2-3, Heidi Rausch 2-3, Makaliah Wilson 0-3, Martina Marquardt 1-3.
HR - Sams. 2B - Rausch. RBI - S. Duford 1, Sams 1, Rausch 1, Wilson 1, Marquardt 1.
Columbia Falls - Jessica Owens 1-2, Renae Nelson 0-2, Shaun Rowe 1-3, Niki Birky 0-3, Madison Sandefer 0-3, Erika Nelson 0-2, Jordan Lefebvre 0-3, Tessa Cowan 0-2, Kathrin Jetty 0-1, Jaylynn Cantu 0-1.