by Scott Sacry
On Saturday, May 18th, Florence defeated Manhattan 3-2 to become the Western B/C Divisional champions. The championship game was a pitcher’s duel as Florence only had six hits and Manhattan had four. Manhattan scored in the top of the 7th inning to tie the game 2-2 and send it to extra innings. In the top of the 8th inning, Florence’s Maggie Schneiter smashed a solo home run to give the Lady Falcons a 3-2 lead. Then in the bottom of the 8th, with the bases loaded and two outs, Florence pitcher Kenzi Pickering got the Lady Tigers to pop up for the final out, sealing the victory.
Maggie Schneiter went 2 for 4 with an RBI, and Lily Bender and Ava Philbrick each had RBIs.
The Lady Falcons are the West’s #1 seed and play the East’s #4 seed, Huntley Project, in Billings at Stewart Park in the Class B/C State Tournament on Thursday, May 23rd at 2 p.m.
Florence 11, MAC 0
Florence defeated rival MAC 11-0 in their semifinal game on Friday. Florence pitcher Jayden Fisher struck out 8 and got the shutout win. At the plate, Hailey Sutton and Olivia Coulter both hit home runs, and Taylor Pyette went 2 for 3 with 3 RBIs.
Florence 10, Eureka 0
Florence defeated Eureka 10-0 in their 1st round game on Thursday. Florence pitcher Kenzi Pickering got the win, only allowing 1 hit and striking out 8. At the plate, Ava Philbrick and Hailey Sutton had doubles, while Maggie Schneiter and Taylor Pyette had triples.
Class A softball divisionals
The softball teams from Corvallis, Hamilton and Stevensville were in Polson on May 17-18 for the Western A Divisionals. Hamilton finished 6th and will advance to state as the West’s 6th seed.
Hamilton defeated Browning 17-0 in their 1st round game. Then lost to Polson 0-10 in the quarterfinals. This loss sent them to the loser out game on Saturday where they defeated Butte Central 15-4 and Libby 12-9. Finally, they lost to Ronan 3-13 in the 5th/6th place game.
Stevensville defeated Whitefish 19-1 in their 1st round game, then lost to Columbia Falls 4-12 in the quarterfinals. This sent them to the loser-out game where they defeated Corvallis 1-0, then lost to Ronan 0-4, ending their season.
Corvallis lost to Libby in an opening round slugfest 20-21. This sent them to the loser-out game where they were defeated by Stevensville 0-1, ending their season.
The Class A State tournament is held at Stewart Park in Billings on May 23-25. Hamilton plays Havre on Thursday, May 23rd at 1 pm.