PREP SOFTBALL: Senior holds off CMR in quarterfinals of state tourney
MISSOULA - This time, it took four things for Billings Senior to outrun C.M. Russell.
A bloop and a blast and a bloop and a blast.
Hollis Baker and Viennah Meyer each crushed two-run homers, and Kennedy Venner retired three batters after a Madeline Hamma double in the top of seventh as Billings Senior defeated C.M. Russell 5-3 in the quarterfinals of the Class AA State Softball Tournament Friday afternoon at Fort Missoula Regional Park.
The Rustlers, 14-7-1 are playing a loser-out contest late Friday afternoon. A win puts them in Saturday's third place game.
You don't want to know what happens after a loss, so we won't discuss that.
Senior took the early lead in the first inning as Meyer doubled and scored one out later on an errant throw.
Kadence Taylor's solo home run in the top of the third tied the game, but Baker came up with Darby Mayo on the sacks with two down and rifled one over the right field wall.
One inning later, it was Meyer's turn to go yard with one aboard. The Rustlers came back with two in the sixth, but it wouldn't be enough. Hamma's double led off the top of the seventh, but Venner mowed down the next three batters, striking out the last two. All three represented the tying run.
Head coach Alex Lowry put it plain and simple: "No, we should not have lost that game.
"We made a lot of good adjustments, but we made a few little mistakes, and those few little mistakes cost us. We started off that first inning with an error. It wasn't a great way to set the tone.
"I was proud of our hitters for making adjustments, following a 19-strikeout game (the last time they faced Venner just a week ago in a 1-0 CMR win; Venner fanned 10 Rustlers Friday); we're making contact, we're hitting the ball, but our baserunning errors cost us, and our fielding errors cost us."
Lowry hopes her girls can have a short memory.
""Now we need to bounce back and find out how resiliant we arfe," Lowry added. "I believe that our team is tough enough and mentally tough enough and strong enough to battle back.
"We'll be back. We'll see them again."
SECOND ROUND: Rustlers 13, Spartans 1 (Thursday)
In their second round game, the bats exploded ... in a good way, of course.
Lauren Lindseth led the Rustlers' 18-hit barrage by driving in four runs with three hits - including her first home run of the season - and Brie Ginnaty held Missoula Sentinel to no earned runs, scattering seven hits and also belting a yard shot Thursday at CMR hammered the Spartans in the second round.
The homers for Lindseth, Ginnaty, and Brooke Powers all came a five-run outburst in the top of the seventh. Powers led off the inning with a solo shot, Lindseth's blast came with one on and one out, and Ginnaty made it back-to-back with a solo dinger. All three girls finished with three hits via the same combination: two singles and a Jimmy-Jack.
Sarah Faulk added four singles to the CMR ledger, while freshman Georgia Hatzenbeller had a pair of singles hitting in the No. 9 position.
The Rustlers scored five times in the fourth and added three more in the sixth.
In the circle, Ginnaty struck out three and walked two.
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This article originally appeared on Great Falls Tribune: PREP SOFTBALL: Senior holds off CMR in quarterfinals of state tourney
