Softball goes .500 on a long road tour
Haden Peters eyes a high, but slow pitch during a game against Whitefish recently.
The Columbia Falls softball team went .500 on a road swing last week. The Wildkats picked up a key conference victory against Polson last Tuesday, 10-6, but lost to Ronan, 3-2 Thursday. They then beat Havre 11-6 at the Lewistown tourney, but fell to Laurel 9-4 Saturday.
The Kats are now 4-3 on the season.
Against Polson, the Kats found themselves down 3-0 after the first inning, but stormed back in the third with five runs to take the lead, They added a run in the fourth and fifth and three more in the top of the of the seventh to put the game away.
The Kats racked up 17 hits in the win. Haden Peters hit a two-run homer in the fifth and a double in the seventh to drive in two more. Bella Mann had a solo homer in the seventh as well.
Maddie Moultray went the distance on the mound, striking out 13, while giving up six hits and six runs, though only three were earned.
Against Ronan, the Kats just couldn’t get a run across the plate when they needed it. They had seven hits and tied the game at the top of the fifth, but Ronan added a run in the bottom of the inning and then held on for the win. The Kats had a runner on third with two out in the top of the seventh, but couldn’t get her across the plate.
Against Havre, Peters had two dingers and four RBIs as the Kats were up 7-0 after two innings. Havre rallied with four runs in the top of the third, but the Kats answered with four runs in the bottom of the inning to put the game away. Against Laurel the Locomotives put up seven runs in the top of the first and never looked back as Peters got roughed up a bit on the pitching mound, giving up six hits and seven runs in 2/3-inning of work. Moultray came in relief.
The Kats host Libby on Thursday and then travel to Frenchtown Friday. The Libby game has a 5:30 p.m. start.