Saturday’s matchup between Frenchtown and Florence featured two of the top programs in the state. Between the two teams, they have won more than 20 state titles in the last 20 years.
With Shannon Byrne in the circle for the Lady Falcons, the game started well for Florence, for two batters. She struck out the first batter and then caught a grounder and threw to Kailey Kovatch at first for the second out. But then Layne Bauer socked a long hit over center field for a homer. Byrne struck out the next batter to end Frenchtown’s batting. In the bottom of the first, Byrne stepped up and hit a single. She was followed by Natalie Dulac who hit another single and an RBI as Byrne came home to tie the game.
The next two innings were a pitching and fielding duel with neither team scoring. But in the top of the fourth, Frenchtown’s Cassidy Bauer hit the a single and then Claire Bagnell hit a double with an RBI for Cassidy Bauer. Frenchtown went on to run the score up to seven runs before Florence could connect and score again. Rilee Mangun had a triple and two RBIs while Dulac had a single and one RBI in the 9-3 loss.
“When we play good teams like this, we learn more as a team,” said Ralls. “Their pitcher threw like 80 pitches. We just weren’t patient looking for our pitch, swinging at everything. We’ll just move on and get better from this. We made some mistakes and we’ll get them fixed.”
Frenchtown was coming of a 4-0 loss to Hamilton on Thursday. Jorden Taggart was the winning pitcher and only allowed three hits in the game. Sophia Doyle had two hits and Maggie Ringer and Haley Frey each had a double. Frey knocked in three runners in the game.
On Friday, Hamilton took on Polson. Taggart was once more in the circle and took the 10-8 win. Ringer had three hits including a home run and a double. She had three RBIs. Doyle had two hits. Frey also had two hits and an RBI. Taggart had a single but knocked in three runners. Hamilton improved their record to 4-2.
Stevensville blanked Dillon, 10-0, in five innings. Ashlin Hiller was the winning pitcher and only allowed one hit. Maddie Sims had two hits including a home run and a double. She had two RBIs. Kaylee Berning had two hits and an RBI. Taylor Springer and Sarah Morrison each had two RBIs.
Corvallis blanked Columbia Falls, 18-0, in a three inning game. Gabby Krueger was the winning pitcher. Sami Knapp had two hits including a double and knocked in four runners. Mariah Hickey had a double and two RBIs. Cierra Jessop had two RBIs and Megan Bradshaw, Daphney Reynoso, Caitlyn Bayner and Kim Wright each had an RBI in the drubbing.