Seahawks stay alive in senior SB tourney
Members of the Columbia Falls Seahawks senior softball team are, front row from left, umpire Frank Sizemore, Joe Sova, coach Dick Lundstrom, Bill Kowalowski, Kevin Grau; back row, Ken Milliard, Ed Smollack, Jack Fields, Bob Pearce, Ron Beard, Anthony McArter, Frank Birky, John Davis. Not pictured: Gary Luce, Les Grilley, Les Parks.
For the first time ever, Columbia Falls has a men's senior softball team this year, the Seahawks. The team is sponsored by Dick and Charlotte Sapa at the Blue Moon.
After a first-round loss, the Seahawks stayed alive in the five-team 2009 Flathead Senior Men's Softball League Tournament with a 19-12 victory Tuesday over the Vultures at the Conrad Complex in Kalispell.
In league play, the Ospreys secured the top seed for the tournament and the Vultures were second. The Seahawks, with a 7-6 record, finished third. The Eagles were fourth and the Ravens fifth. All the teams but the Seahawks are from Kalispell. Players on the teams range in age from 50 to 84.
In the first evening of tourney play Monday, the Eagles rallied for an 18-16 victory over the Seahawks. The Ravens upset the second-seeded and injury-riddled Vultures in the first game.
On Tuesday in the quarterfinals, the fourth-seeded Eagles pulled off another upset, edging the No. 1 Ospreys, 13-11.
The Seahawks led the Vultures 13-11 after five innings Tuesday in a loser-out game, then held the Vultures to one run over the last two innings while the Seahawks scored six times.
In the semifinals next Monday, it will be the No. 4 Eagles against the No. 5 Ravens at 6:30 p.m. The Seahawks take on the Ospreys at 7:45 p.m. in a loser-out contest. The Seahawks-Ospreys winner plays the Eagles-Ravens loser at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday. The winner of that game advances to the championship Monday, Aug. 17 at 6:30 p.m.