The Florence softball team will be making the trip north to Kalispell on Thursday to play in the state tournament. Florence will play Glasgow at 2pm in the opening game. Ronan, Anaconda, and Plains/Hot Springs will also represent the Western B at the state tournament.
Florence dropped their opening game to Ronan, 17-7. They then played Loyola in loser out action. Loyola got an early lead but a six-run inning by Florence in the fifth inning gave the Lady Falcons the lead. Florence went on to win, 8-6. Shay Waldbillig came in to pitch in the fifth and took the win. Sarah Schurg had a double and an RBI. She went 1-for-3 at bat. Chloe Arthur also went 1-for-3. Waldbillig was 2-for-4 at bat with two RBIs. Brooklyn Little went 1-for-2 with an RBI.
After knocking off Loyola, Florence was assured of a state berth. They played Plains for fourth place. Florence jumped out to an early lead and went on to win, 14-2 in the game that was shorted due to the 10-run rule. Florence had 13 hits and no errors in the game. Waldbillig was again the pitcher with Arthur catching. Arthur, Natalie Dulac and Shannon Byrne each had triples. Arthur went 1-for-3 with an RBI. Dulac was 2-for-3 with three RBIs. She also had a double. Byrne went 1-for-3 with an RBI. Natalie Drozdz went 3-for 5 with three RBIs. Waldbillig had two RBIs and Destini Greer had an RBI.
Florence then advanced to the third place game and a chance to move on to the championship game. This was their third game on Saturday. They took on the hometown Anaconda Copperheads. The Lady Falcons held a one run lead going into the top of the fourth inning but then their bats went cold. Anaconda came back and scored nine runs in the next three innings and went on to win, 13-8. Brooklyn Little was the losing pitcher for Florence. Kali Leibenguth went 1-for-2 with a triple. Drozdz was 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs. Byrne, Dulac, Waldbillig and Schurg all had RBIs.
Hamilton and Corvallis will advance to the State Class A tournament in Belgrade. That tournament also begins on Thursday. Hamilton is the No. 2 seed from the Southwest Conference and Corvallis is the No. 3 seed. Hamilton will open against Polson, the No. 3 seed from the Northwest at noon. Corvallis will open against Columbia Falls, the No. 2 seed from the Northwest. Corvallis had a bye week this week.
Hamilton finished their regular season with a couple of wins and a no hitter. Freshman pitcher Jorden Taggart pitched a no-hitter against Dillon in the 11-1 win. Dillon’s only run was off a dropped ball on a walk. Kloie Nye hit two home runs and hit 2-for-4. She had three RBIs. Rachel Ringer was perfect at 2-for-2 with a home run, a double and two RBIs. Mallory McGill went 2-for-3 with a triple. Skye Lopez hit 1-for-2 with a double and an RBI.
Earlier on Saturday, Hamilton topped Stevensville, 13-3, in five innings. Lopez was the winning pitcher with Kelsie Meis catching. Sarah Morrison was Stevensville’s pitcher with Dani Trangmoe catching. Hamilton had 16 hits in the game with two errors. Stevensville had five hits with one error.
Stevensville’s Callie Lendman went 1-for-2 with an RBI. Trangmoe hit 1-for-3 with an RBI and Abby Austin had an RBI.
McGill went 1-for-2 with a home run and two RBIs. Tessa Della Silva went 2-for-3 with a home run and a double, and three RBIs. Rachel Richardson was perfect at bat, hitting 3-for-3. She had a double and an RBI. Nye hit a triple and had an RBI. Ringer went 4-for-4 with three RBIs.