They were poised to become back-to-back-to-back champions. They had the talent and the experience. After all, the seniors on the team have two state championships and a third place finish during their high school journey. But injuries had plagued the Lady Falcons the second half of the season and it was not known if their ace pitcher, Shannon Byrne, would be able to lead her team. She had sustained a high ankle sprain at the Frenchtown Invitational the last week in April and had been on crutches for the rest of the season, making only a brief appearance last week at the divisional tournament. But the senior is nothing if not determined and she wasn’t going to let her team down.
Coach Rob Ralls said he wanted to save Byrne so she could pitch the later games but Conrad/Choteau got Florence in a bind and he put Byrne in for the save. Florence came through the bind and went on to take the 12-2 win with Byrne pitching. Kasidy Yeoman had three hits including two doubles. Kobi Wood, Natalie Dulac and Mackenzie Little all had RBIs in the first round win.
Next up for Florence was Huntley Project. The eastern Montana team was tough and handed Florence their first loss in a state tournament in two years. The final score was Huntley Project 6, Florence 2.
The loss sent Florence to the consolation bracket where they had to battle back. First up was Cut Bank. Florence took only five innings to defeat the Wolves, 20-8.
That win propelled Florence into their third game of the day, this time against Loyola.
“Loyola was a tough game,” said Ralls. “They were kind of in the same boat with pitchers. We got six runs right off the bat.”
But in the next inning, Loyola came back to score five runs. Ralls switched out pitchers and kept switching them until he was back to Byrne who closed out the game with 15 K’s in five innings. Danielle Zahn hit a grand slam homer to give Florence some breathing room and then hit another home run. Florence went on to win, 10-9.
They advanced to play Plains/Hot Springs. Florence actually trailed by one run until the fifth inning when Emily Kinnaman hit a home run. They continued to hit the ball and scored 10 runs in the inning. Florence went on to win, 12-2.
But the championship game against Huntley Project didn’t go the way they wanted. Although they had a lead at one time and pushed the Red Devils several times, the Lady Falcons ran into pitching problems with Kasidy Yeoman replacing Kailee Kovatch and then Kovatch returning to the circle. In the process, Florence gave up three runs. They came back a couple more times but ultimately lost, 8-6, and finished in second place.
“The girls battled all weekend,” said Ralls. “They went through the losers bracket and battled back. To end up second, that’s nothing to be ashamed of.”
Ralls announced on Sunday that he will be stepping down as head coach. He said he just felt it was time for a new person to come on board. He has been the head coach for six or seven years, he wasn’t sure, and prior to that, he was an assistant coach for Florence.