Kats pick up two key conference wins
<p>Wildkat second baseman Winter Kemppainnen makes the toss to first for a force out against Libby.</p>
The Columbia Falls softball team went 3-1 on the week, their only loss coming May 5 in a tough conference game against Frenchtown, 4-2.
The Wildkats opened the week with a big conference win at home April 30, dropping Libby in eight innings 2-1. The girls then walloped Whitefish on May 3, blanking them 22-0, and beat Butte Central, 4-3, in Frenchtown on May 5.
The Kats are now 9-5 on the season and faced a tough conference foe in Polson at home Tuesday after presstime.
The Kats’ biggest win of the week came against the Lady Loggers behind the bat of Ashley Trueblood and great defense by Carlee Brown.
Libby took the lead in the top of the sixth 1-0, but the Kats tied the game after Ciarra Holm reached first on a single, then stole second on a passed ball and the stole third. Holm then scored on a wild pitch with Winter Kemppainnen up to bunt.
In the bottom of the eighth with two outs, speedy sophomore Brown reached first on a bunt, and Trueblood knocked a ball to deep center field. Brown raced around the bases and made it home without having to slide. Game over.
Brown also made a stellar defense play in the fourth inning, as the Lady Loggers had the bases loaded and no outs. Libby’s Daylin Germany hit a ball sharply to short center, but Brown made the catch and then gunned down the runner at the plate. Trueblood then struck out the next batter to get out of the jam.
“That was a great job,” coach Dave Kehr said of Brown’s play. “No hesitation.”
The Butte Central win was also a nail-biter, the Kats were up 3-1, but the Maroons rallied with two runs in the top of the fifth to make it a tie game.
The Kats scored the go-ahead run in the bottom of the sixth, and pitcher Kemppainnen, in her first varsity start of the year, shut down Central’s bats to preserve the victory.
“This team hangs in there and battles back,” Kehr said. “Winter pitched very well. She closed out the seventh for us.”
Against Frenchtown, the Kats ran into some excellent pitching by Lady Bronc Morgan Ray, who fanned 14 batters in the win. Still, the Kats had an early 1-0 lead after three innings. Frenchtown, however, scored three in the bottom of the third. The Kats tried to rally in the top of the sixth but could get just one run across the plate.
“She pitches hard,” Kehr said of Ray.
The girls will travel to the Butte Central tournament this weekend.