by Scott Sacry
The Florence-Carlton girl’s softball team, last year’s state champions, continued their dominance, taking the state title for the 12th time. In Lewistown on Saturday, May 28th, they defeated rival St. Ignatius-Arlee-Charlo, 14-11, to win the championship. The game was a rematch of last year’s final, which Florence also won, and it’s Florence’s 12th state title since 1997. Florence’s head coach Maurice Craun had his team firing on all cylinders. In the title game, Florence’s offense proved too much for a talented St. Ignatius-Arlee-Charlo team. Jaidyn Larson went 4 for 4 with 5 RBIs, Kasidy Yeoman went 4 for 4 and scored 4 runs, and both Ava Philbrick and Madison Potter had home runs. Pitcher Kylie Kovatch got the win.
In the opening round game on Thursday, May 26th, Florence defeated Cut Bank, 13-1. Kolbi Wood had a huge game, going 3 for 3 with 2 homeruns and 6 RBIs, and Rylee Yeoman went 2 for 3 and scored 2 runs. Pitcher Kylie Kovatch got the win and had 7 strikeouts. On Friday, they played Columbus-Absarokee-Park City and won, 9-5. Kolbi Wood kept up her hot hitting, going 2 for 3 with 2 home runs and 3 RBIs, Jaidyn Larson went 3 for 4 and scored 3 runs, and pitcher Kylie Kovatch had 7 strikeouts and got the win.
They then played St. Ignatius-Arlee-Charlo in the undefeated semi-final game on Friday afternoon. They won, 17-12, behind their high-powered offense. Kolbi Wood went 2 for 4 with a home run and 7 RBIs, Kasidy Yeoman went 4 for 4 and scored 5 runs, and Jaidyn Larson went 5 for 5 and scored 4 runs. Kylie Kovatch had 5 strikeouts in the win.