Kats win three of four in Butte Central tourney
Amanda Milliard holds on to a catch after colliding with a teammate during the Wildkats' game against Polson recently. Trent Makela photo
By JOE SOVA / Hungry Horse News
Behind the pitching of Morgan Rowe and Jessica Owens and timely hitting, Columbia Falls won three of four games in the Butte Central softball tournament last weekend. Only one of the Wildkats' games went a full seven innings as no new inning started after an hour, 20 minutes had elapsed.
Rowe and Owens combined for a 5-hit shutout as the Kats blanked Huntley Project 11-0 to begin action Friday. CFHS led 6-0 after two innings, then sent five runs across the plate in the sixth inning.
While the Kats collected nine hits, the Class B-C team committed five errors.
Rowe, Amanda Milliard and Kayla Stinger had two hits each for the Kats.
Rowe went the distance later Friday against Conrad, and the Kats posted a 5-3 victory. Rowe gave up seven hits.
CFHS led 5-0 after three innings.
Cedar Smith had a triple and drove in two runs. Stinger and Tia Yaeger each had two hits.
The teams combined for five errors in the contest.
On Saturday morning, the Kats lost to Glendive, 6-3 in five innings. The Kats' runs all came in the second inning. They outhit the Dawson County team, 7-5. Each team had two errors.
Owens took the loss.
Amber James was 3-for-3 and Rowe 2-for-2 for the Kats. Smith, Milliard and Mandy Toavs each had an RBI.
Sparking by a three-run homer by James to cap a seven-run fifth inning, the Kats outscored Laurel 14-11 to wrap up the tourney. The teams combined for 29 hits, 17 by Laurel.
The game was tied at 7-7 after four innings. After the Kats scored four times in the top of the fifth, James' blast gave they needed cushion. Laurel came back with four runs in the bottom half.
"It was a slugfest," Kats coach Dave Kehr said. "We hit the ball really well."
Milliard was 3-for-4, and Rowe, Yaeger and James each had two hits.
Rowe went the distance to pitch the win. Kehr said she is pitching "extremely well right now."
Both Rowe and Owens are getting extra duty since Kehr said that pitcher Drew Walter left the team when she was bothered by an elbow problem. Her record was 6-1 when her season ended.
"They feel pretty good about the weekend," Kehr said of the Kats.
The Kats host Whitefish on Thursday. A win would give them the third seed from the Western A Conference going into the state tournament next week in Butte. CFHS finishes the regular season Friday at Browning. The Kats are 4-4 in league games and 11-7 overall.
Columbia Falls 240 005 — 11 9 1
Huntley Project 000 000 — 0 5 5
Rowe, Owens (3) and James; Steffes and Ktind. WP — Rowe. LP — Steffes.
Conrad 000 030 0 — 3 7 3
Columbia Falls 122 000 x — 5 8 2
Fowler and Fagen; Rowe and James. WP — Rowe. LP — Fowler.
Glendive 141 00 — 6 5 2
Columbia Falls 030 00 — 3 7 2
Caudill and Kirby; Owens and James. WP — Caudill. LP — Owens.
Columbia Falls 403 07 — 14 12 2
Laurel 013 34 — 11 17 1
Rowe and James; Parks, Schultz (5) and Linse. WP — Rowe. LP — Parks.