There is only one weekend and one tournament left in the season. For Hamilton and Stevensville, they will begin the long trip to Sidney on Tuesday and go halfway before pulling into town on Wednesday night. Stevensville will play Dawson County (Glendive) at 11am on Thursday morning. Hamilton will play the winner of the Lewistown/Polson game at 3 p.m. on Thursday. Hamilton is the No. 1 seed from the Southwest A, and Stevensville is the No. 3 team from the Southwest A.
Florence just has to go to Frenchtown for the State Class B tournament. They will take on Shepherd, the No. 3 seed from the Eastern Division. Florence, after losing twice to Libby, will be the No. 2 seed from the West.
Hamilton completed a perfect conference run and lost only four games in the season. Stevensville, who is making their first state tournament appearance in 17 years, has a record of 9-9-1. The two teams met up on Thursday. After a scoreless first inning, Hamilton broke loose for six runs in the second inning when Sophia Doyle smacked a double and brought in two runners. She finished the night with three RBIs. It was only fitting that on Senior Night, a senior knocked a walk-off home run over the fence for the 12-2 win. Rachel Richardson knocked the ball over left field for the walk-off homer.
“I’ve had some ups and downs,” said Richardson. “But I feel strong now.”
Richardson, who also had a double and three RBIs, went on to say the Lady Broncs work well together and play off each other’s successes. “If someone gets a hit, then everyone else starts hitting too.”
Fellow senior Rachael Ringer said that Richardson’s homer was a “beautiful hit. Especially for our last game at home, it was one of the best things ever!”
Skye Lopez, who has been the main pitcher for Hamilton all year, allowed only four hits in the game. Ringer had a double and two RBIs. McGill, who made an outstanding catch for the front end of a double play in the fourth inning, had a double and an RBI. Caitlin Dillon and Hayley Hudgins each had RBIs as well. Stevensville’s Sarah Morrison took the loss. Mikayla Newman went 2-for-4 with two RBIs.
Hamilton finished up their regular season against Dillon. Hamilton won, 12-2. Lopez was in the circle and took the win. She allowed only four hits. Kelsie Meis went 2-for-4 with a home run and an RBI. McGill went 1-for-4 with four RBIs. Dillon and Richardson also had RBIs.
Florence went into the Western B Divisional tournament in Libby as the 6B leader. However, two run-ins against Libby proved to be their undoing. Florence defeated Libby in the semi final game, 6-5. Libby then had to come back through the consolation bracket to meet Florence in the championship game. Libby handed Florence their first loss of the double elimination tournament, winning 11-3. That meant a second championship game had to be played. Libby won that game as well, 12-10, and took the championship.
Florence opened their tournament against Ronan and won, 22-7. Shay Waldbillig was the winning pitcher with Chloe Arthur catching. Arthur and Natalie Dulac each had home runs. Arthur went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Dulac was 1-for-3 with an RBI. Emily Kinnaman went 2-for-2 with a triple and two RBIs. Kali Leibenguth and Waldbillig each had double with Leibenguth knocking in two runners.
In the second round, Florence topped Plains, 9-3. Shannon Byrne was the winning pitcher. Waldbillig had a double and two RBIs. Arthur and Leibenguth each had RBIs for Florence as well. Florence had seven hits in the game and two errors.
Brianna Hoffman was the winning pitcher for Florence in their 6-5 win over Libby in the semifinal game. Florence had 11 hits to Libby’s 10. However, Libby had five errors while Florence only had one error. Arthur and Rylee Mangun each had triples, and Arthur had a double and an RBI. Brooklyn Little went 2-for-4 with two doubles and an RBI. Hoffman also had a double.
After losing to Florence in the semifinal game, Libby settled down and hit the ball well. They scored seven runs in the first inning and went on to win, 11-3. Florence had eight hits but couldn’t get home. Byrne took the loss for Florence. Mangun had a triple and a double and an RBI. Arthur continued to hit well and had a home run and two RBIs.
In the second championship game, Florence rallied in the fifth inning with eight runs but it was not enough. Libby won, 12-10. Waldbillig took the loss. Little had a home run and two RBIs; she was 2-for-4 at bat. Destini Greer went 3-for-4 with a triple and an RBI.