Kats look to build on last year's success

by Chris Peterson Hungry Horse News
| March 27, 2013 8:01 AM

Boiling down the game of softball comes down to two things — pitching and hitting. The Columbia Falls softball team has the pitching this season in Ashley Trueblood and Winter Kempainnen, but they lost some bats to graduation last year, including sluggers Niki Birky, Shaun Rowe and Madison Sandefer.

But Wildkat coach Dave Kehr likes this year’s team — the weather, not so much. Because of snow and rain, the girls practiced in the gym all but one day this spring, he said. It’s hard to judge power when the ball bounces off a gym wall.

“We have a very good group of girls out,” he said . “It’s a very versatile team.”

Four girls can play catcher and Alysha Cantu and Alex Peterson are solid pitchers, Kehr said. When Kempainnen and Trueblood aren’t on the mound, they can play just about anywhere else on the field. Trueblood played shortstop a lot last summer, he noted.

The team still has power. Look for solid hitting from Kathrin Jetty and Tiffany Hummer. Hummer is small in stature, but she hit a fair number of dingers last year. Kehr said it will take a few games to solidify the lineup.

The conference is one of the toughest in the state, with Frenchtown and Polson. Like the Kats, both teams returned a lot of players, and games against them will be wire-to-wire affairs.

Last year, the Wildkats were 20-7 overall and came in fourth in state. Polson won the tourney by beating the Lady Broncs. The Kats beat Frenchtown in the last game of the season to take second in the conference. They also beat Polson for the first time in years.

Over the past 10 years, Polson has won four state Class A titles, Frenchtown won two and Libby, the Wildkats’ other main conference foe, won one.

The Kats have 23 girls on the roster for junior varsity and varsity. They are scheduled to open the season on Thursday, March 28, with an away game against Whitefish at 5:30 p.m. Whitefish lacks numbers this season — they don’t even have a junior varsity team. The Kats then face Polson on April 9 after spring break.