Page 69 - Flathead Beacon // 5.21.14

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SPORTS MAY 21, 2014 | 69

“WE’RE JUST HITTING OUR PEAK RIGHT NOW. PERFECT TIMING.
CONTINUED FROM BACK PAGE
L
WE’RE READY FOR (THE PLAYOFFS).” Flathead Coach Ashley Fusaro

AST WEEK’S DEFEAT WASN’T
the result the Glacier soft-
ball team wanted, but it
could have been the one the
Wolfpack needed.

The girls dropped the i-
nal game of the regular season last week,
losing the second part of the crosstown
doubleheader to rival Flathead at the
Kidsports Complex in Kalispell. Kylee
Beccari, pitching all 14 innings on the
day in an impressive show of endurance,

limited the Wolfpack to two hits and
one run, while Kaylee Henderson blast-
ed her ifth homer of the season to give
the Bravettes the 2-1 win. Glacier edged
Flathead 3-2 in the opener after Ali Wil-
liams fanned 11 batters and Kayleena
Ikeda scored the game-winning run in
the bottom of the seventh of an error.

For Flathead, battling back to win
its ifth game of the season provided a
shot in the arm for the girls entering this
week’s playofs.
“Both games were fantastic. Not how
we wanted to end our irst one, but really
happy with the second one,” Bravettes

head coach Ashley Fusaro said. “We’re
just hitting our peak right now. Perfect
timing. We’re ready for next week.”
The Bravettes (5-13 overall, 2-10 in
conference) will travel to Helena to take
on Capital (15-5, 9-3) on Thursday for a
best-of-three Western AA playof series.
The winner advances to the Class AA

state tournament, May 29-30, in Great Glacier’s Kayla Russell can’t come up with a today. I was very pleased with Ali Wil- STANDINGS
Falls. Flathead is seeking its irst trip to throw as Flathead’s Kaitlin Torgerson slides liams’ pitching and Hannah Atlee’s
state since the spring of 2007.
safely into second base.
catching. Our battery was very strong
“The girls have really come together today and did a great job. Defensively we
as a team,” Fusaro said.
GREG LINDSTROM | FLATHEAD BEACON
backed them up when they put the ball in
For Glacier — a team that began the More photos at www.latheadbeacon.com
the ield,” Fors said. “That’s right where WESTERN AA *
OVERALL CONFERENCE
season with hopes of building on last we need to be defensively at the end of
year’s third-place inish at the state MISSOULA HELLGATE
12-7-1 9-2-1
the season. We just left the bats in the MISSOULA BIG SKY
15-6 9-3
tournament — the crosstown double- 8-6 in the semiinal round. The girls freezer.”
header provided a bitter reminder that ended up third, the best inish in pro- Life in the Western AA conference HELENA CAPITAL
15-5 9-3
nothing comes easy at this point of the gram history.
was challenging this season. The top GLACIER 10-8-1 7-5
season.
A strong core of leaders returned three teams traded wins amongst each HELENA 6-13-1 5-6-1
“Whether they want to admit it or to the lineup, including senior catcher other, led by Missoula Hellgate, which
not, games like this make us better down Hannah Atlee, senior outielder Taylor won the conference title. Missoula Big FLATHEAD 5-13 2-10
the stretch, being able to learn from Riggles and senior Anna Jenks. There’s Sky narrowly missed out, along with MISSOULA SENTINEL
0-20 0-12

these experiences,” Glacier head coach also the team’s ace, Williams, who as a Helena Capital. Glacier beat Helena both
Andy Fors said. “This day here is going sophomore has already developed into times this season and locked up fourth EASTERN AA *
to ultimately be one of our strengths as one of the best pitchers in the state.
place in the standings.
we inish out the season.”
“We feel good,” Fors said, adding, “Our goal is to get to the state tour- GREAT FALLS C.M. RUSSELL
16-2 11-1
The Wolfpack (10-8-1, 7-5) will host “We just need to be able to igure out nament and once we get there, not to be
a best-of-three playof against Helena how to hit the ball before (the playof).”
satisied with the trip and get some wins BILLINGS WEST
15-5 9-3
(6-13-1, 5-6-1) on Thursday starting at Glacier’s low run total against Flat- while we’re there,” Fors said.
GREAT FALLS
13-6 7-5
1 p.m. at Kidsports Complex. Glacier is head was an unusual performance for On the east side, Great Falls C.M. BUTTE 10-10 6-6

looking to advance to state for the sec- one of Western AA’s top hitting teams.
Russell won the conference crown. De- BILLINGS SKYVIEW 12-9 5-7
ond consecutive year. Last year’s squad But defensively, the team shined as it fending state champ Great Falls inished BILLINGS SENIOR 7-13 3-9
went 14-5 and won the Western AA has all season, relecting the well-round- in third place, barely behind Billings
crown, but fell just shy of playing for a ed quality of this year’s squad.
West.
BOZEMAN
2-18 1-11
championship after losing to Great Falls
“We’ll hang our hats on our defense
[email protected]

NORTHWESTERN A **

FRENCHTOWN CLINCHES DIVISION TITLE
FRENCHTOWN 17-1 6-0
POLSON
14-3 4-2

will play at 1 p.m., May 29, against the No. 3 seed from LIBBY 16-4 3-3 FOR THE SECOND TIME IN THREE YEARS, Frenchtown The defending state champion Lady Broncs earned
the East.
COLUMBIA FALLS 7-10-1 2-4 locked up the Northwestern A division title and the No. a irst-round bye and will play at 3 p.m., May 29, against
Libby edged Columbia Falls in the standings and WHITEFISH
2-13 0-6
1 conference seed at the Class A state tournament, May the winner of the No. 2 seed from the East and the No. 3
grabbed the last state tournament seed. The Lady Log- 29-31, in Polson. Northwestern A does not hold a divi- seed from the Central.
*playof seeding based on conference standings
gers will play at 1 p.m., May 29, against the No. 2 seed sional tournament, meaning the top three teams in the Polson inished second in the conference stand-
from the Southwest.
conference standings advanced to state.
ings and earned another trip to state. The Lady Pirates
**top three advance to state