The Florence softball team went into Saturday’s double-header against Ronan without a loss but came out of it with their first loss of the season. The Lady Falcons won the first game, 4-3 but then fell to the Maidens, 6-3, in the final game of the day.
Florence had a 2-0 lead in the top of the fifth inning when Lindsay Clairmont of Ronan hit a long drive down the third base line. A fielding error allowed the Rona runner to come home. Ronan then went on to take the lead in the sixth inning on another fielding error. But Florence was not to be denied. After Cassandra Skeers got on base on a walk, and Scotley Pederson hit a single, Courtney Byrne stepped up to the plate. The seasoned junior hit a long ball in to score Skeers and tie the game. Paige Bodner then stepped up and slapped a hit to third to score Pederson and take the win, 4-3. Courtney Byrne was the pitcher and Paige Bodner was the catcher in the game.
Ronan took the second game, 6-3. The two teams were tied at the end of three innings but then Ronan scored three runs in the top of the fourth inning to take control of the game. Bodner was 2-for-4 and had an RBI. Pederson went 1-for-2 and also had an RBI for the Lady Falcons. Florence is now 5-1 in conference and overall play.
“They just executed better than we did,” said coach Joe McKay of the second game. “They had 11 hits in the game.”
McKay went on to say his team was doing some shuffling of players because of injuries and other issues right now and he felt this probably hurt their defense on Saturday.
First game
Florence 4, Ronan 3
Ronan 000 012 0 – 3 3 3
Florence 000 202 x – 4 6 2
Bethany Colman and Lindsay Clairmont. Courtney Byrne and Paige Bodner W – Byrne (5-0). L –Colman.
Ronan – Ashleigh Lynch 0-4, Colman 0-2, Payge DeLaurenti 1-3, Clairmont 1-3, Turquoise Haggard 0-1, Alaina Madsen 0-3, Jasmine Bocksnick 0-3, McKenzie Dulmes 1-3, Courtney Taylor 0-3.
Florence – Byrne 1-2, Bodner 1-4, Megan Byrne 0-4, Hayley Cole 2-3, Hailey Huot 0-2, Ava Kollman 0-3, Stephanie Drozdz 1-3, Cassandra Skeers 0-2, Kyndall Hoff 0-0, Holly Hale 0-2, Scotley Pedersen 1-1, Carli O’Brien 0-0.
2B – Dulmes, Cole. RBIs – Dulmes, Clairmont, C. Byrne, Drozdz.
Game 2
Ronan 6, Florence 3
Florence 001100 1 – 3 4 2
Ronan 001 302 x – 6 11 1
Courtney Byrne and Bodner. Colman and Clairmont. W – Colman. L – Byrne (5-1).
Florence – C. Byrne 0-2, Bodner 2-4, Megan Byrne 0-4, Cole 0-3, Huot 1-3, Micayla Cole 0-2, Kollman 0-3, Pedersen 1-2, Skeers 0-1, Drozdz 0-0, O’Brien 0-0.
Ronan – Lynch 3-4, Colman 2-4, DeLaurenti 1-4, Clairmont 0-2, Haggard 1-3, Madsen 1-2, Bocksnick 0-3, Dulmes 2-2, Taylor 1-3.
2B – Madsen, Pedersen. RBIs – Dulmes 2, Colman, Lynch, Bodner.
Stevensville made the trip north to Columbia Falls and Whitefish on Saturday. The Lady ‘Jackets fell to Columbia Falls, 10-0. Stevensville had three hits, including a double by Cambrea Beller.
It was a different story for Stevensville’s game against Whitefish. The Lady ‘Jackets clobbered the Bulldogs, 24-6 in five innings. With six runs in the second inning and seven in the third inning, Stevensville put the game out of reach for the Bulldogs. Bailey Vercruyssen went 3-for-4 with two doubles. Megan Elam was 2-for-4 with a double and Megan Finley was 3-for-4 with a triple. Carly Vercruyssen, the winning pitcher, was 3-for-3 at the plate.
Hamilton defeated Anaconda, 7-6, in a close game. The Lady Broncs picked up three hits in the sixth inning to power by the copperheads. Rebecka Hood had a home run in the fifth inning and was 2-for-3. She also pitched the win, including walking seven and fanning seven.
Corvallis fell to Western B powerhouse St. Ignatius, 6-1, in a non-conference game. Corvallis hat two hits in the game, both by Whitney Jessop. She also had the Blue Devils’ only RBI.