State Champs!
The Columbia Falls softball team with the state A championship trophy. Front row, from left, Ryan Ward, Sophie Robbins, Sydney Mann, Aspen Dawson, Maddy Collins, Tayler Lingle, Demye Rensel; back row, assistant coach Rick Lawrence, Drew Henderson, Syd Burke, Annika Reid, Bella Mann, Haden Peters, coach Dave Kehr, Addy Bowler, Maddie Moultray, Kyrah Trenkle, assistant coaches Brooke Evans, Jesse Mann. (Photo courtesy of Jesse Mann)
The Columbia Falls Wildkats won their first ever state A softball championship Saturday, beating Billing Central, 8-2, in Belgrade for the title.
While the championship game was never in doubt for the Wildkats, it took about 10 minutes to get the last strike.
The sprinkler system turned on in the outfield as pitcher Maddie Moultray was facing the last Central batter in the seventh. The count was 1-2 when the ump threw up his arms and stopped the game, Moultray said.
Crews tried to get the sprinkler to shut off in the outfield, but after they couldn’t, the ump let the game continue. Moultray threw a changeup for a ball, then a heater on the outside of the plate for the final strike.
Kats win.
“I’m so proud of my entire team,” Moultray, who had 36 Ks over the tourney, said.
Moultray, one of the top pitchers in the state, has been playing softball for 12 years now.
“And it finally paid off,” she said.
In addition to Moultray’s pitching, the Kats were a great hitting team all season long, with several players, including Moultray, with batting averages over .500 and many over .400.
The wins at state were a total team effort, with everyone in the lineup contributing. If they needed a clutch hit, they got it.
The Kats opened the tourney Friday by walloping Hamilton in the their opener, 18-3.
The Kats shot out to a 4-0 lead in the first. Maddy Collins had a homer to lead the Kats in the inning and drove in a run.
The girls blew the doors off in the fourth with 11 runs in the bottom of the inning as the Broncs had a tough time with errors and pitching mistakes.
Sydney Mann capped off the onslaught of runs with a double with two on to put the game away.
Haden Peters and Aspen Dawson both hit dingers in the game. Moultray was great on the mound, striking out 11.
The big matchup came later in the day as the Kats faced the one-loss Billings Central Rams for the first time in the tourney.
The game went scoreless for four innings, until Billings put up a run in the top of the fifth. The Kats answered with two in the fifth.
Collins singled to open the inning, then Demye Rensel hit a two out homer to put the Kats up as pinch runner Anikka Reid scored from second.
Billings would tie it up with a run in the top of the sixth, but the Kats put two more runs up in the bottom of the inning as Sophie Robbins singled with the bases loaded to drive in Mann and Peters.
Moultray allowed one run in the top of the seventh but got an out on fielder’s choice and struck out two, including the last batter to preserve the win. Moultray struck out eight in that contest.
The Kats then faced Laurel on Saturday. They found themselves in a 3-1 hole after four, but put up two runs in the top of the fifth. Peters had a solo homer in the third, then Moultray helped her own cause on a double that scored Tayler Lingle from second to tie it up. Peters then doubled to drive in Moultray and the Kats were up 5-4.
Rensel would then score on a passed ball in the top of the seventh after getting on after an error by the third basemen.
Laurel had two on with one out in the top of the seventh, but Peters turned a double play from third to first to end the inning.
Moultray went the distance striking out seven in the win.
In the double elimination championship game, the Kats faced Central again.
They left no doubt.
“We were screaming the entire game,” Moultray said. “It was crazy.”
They could see the Central pitcher was looking tired, and they pounced.
Peters hit a single in the top of the first to drive in Lingle, then Mann hit a dinger to drive in Peters and the Kats were up 3-1 in the first inning.
They then put the game away with three runs in the top of the fifth and two in the top of the sixth.
Mann hit a single with two on to drive in a run and then Collins singled to drive in another run and then Kyrah Trenkle singled to drive in Mann as the Kats went up 6-2.
The next inning Rensel and Aspen Dawson put an exclamation point on the night with solo homers.
Moultray struck out 11 in the victory and allowed just three hits.
The Kats graduate four seniors — Collins, Mann, Dawson and Kyrah Trenkle.
With a host of young talent in the wings, they should be right in the mix again next year.