Baseball on 12-game winning streak heading to state

The Columbia Falls baseball team notched two tight victories last week at the Sapa Johnsrud tournament to end the season on a 12-game winning streak.

The Wildcats beat Polson Friday night 2-1 and then held on to beat Frenchtown 2-1 Saturday.

Against Polson Zeke Dunn went the distance on the mound, striking out 10 while giving up just three hits. The Cats runs came in the bottom of the third when Jett Pitts doubled on a line drive to drive in two runs with two outs.

Dunn is just a freshman, but pitched well, noted coach Chad Green.

“He throws strikes and comes in from the left side,” Green said.

On Saturday, both Frenchtown and Columbia Falls made plenty of contact, but not many hits as both teams played well defensively. Cooper Ross got the start on the mound. Ross is normally the catcher. He went five innings, struck out four and gave up just one run. Reggie Sapa came in for relief in the seventh. Sapa walked two batters and the Broncs had the tying run at third with two out when Sapa struck out the final batter on a called third strike to end the game against the No. 1 seed in the South.

Green had kudos for Ross.

“He did an awesome job pitching for us,” Green said,

Columbia Falls finishes the regular season at 17-1. Their only loss was to Hamilton.

The all-class state tournament is this week in Hamilton. The Cats open play Thursday at 10 a.m. against Billings Central. The Rams have a starter who pitches in the 80s, so it will be a challenge right out of the gate.

Having a deep pitching staff will help the Cats. All of the teams in the state tourney are strong this year, Green noted.

But if the Cats get by Central, they could very well face Frenchtown again in the semifinal at 4 p.m. Friday.

All games are at the Vester Wilson Field in Hamilton. The championship game is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Saturday.