Maidens, Lady Bulldogs battle epic road to State
Carrie Pichler
The Ronan Maidens earned their Class B Divisional Champs title by fending off an on-fire, rival MIssion Lady Bulldog come-from-behind team.
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Ronan Maiden Alaina Madsen
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MAC's Alyssa Doty
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MAC's Courtney Charlo
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MAC's Emilie Charlo
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MAC's Jordyn Eichert
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Ronan Maiden Coach Dakota Peterson
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MAC's Mikaylan Roylance
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MAC's Morgan Malatare
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MAC's Shania Dubois
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Ronan Maiden Courtney Taylor
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Ronan Maiden Danielle Richwine
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Ronan Maiden Jordyn Clairmont
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Ronan Maiden Kaitlyn Sassaman
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Ronan Maiden Kaitlyn Sassaman
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Ronan Maiden Kendra Starkel
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MAC team members huddle
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Ronan Maiden Kenzie Dulmes
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If ever there was a Cinderella story, MAC’s Lady Bulldogs told it well — only instead of glass slippers, these tough girls run hard on spikes.
While Ronan easily qualified for a Western B-C softball Divisional entry with a second seed spot in the bracket, the Lady Bulldogs had to go the extra mile to earn their way in starting with a do-or-die play-in game against Thompson Falls. Once in, MAC Attack took down the competition one by one to make it all the way to the championship game against Ronan’s Maidens, which fans from both sides agreed, was one of the best showdowns of the season.
MAC
The Lady Bulldogs started their postseason bid with a play-in against Thompson Falls at home on Tuesday. MAC easily overtook the Lady Bluehawks 12-0. Pitcher Courtney Charlo gave up just one hit and allowed only two walks in the shutout MAC win. Emilie Charlo played a perfect 3-3 at the plate with a double and four RBIs for her team.
Friday, day one of Divisional play, the Lady Bulldogs started their drive with a first round 6-3 win over Loyola-Sacred Heart. After Courtney Charlo roughed an unusual tough start, Jaycee Anderson came in for relief and picked up the win for the Lady Bulldogs. Shania Dubois stayed strong in offense, going 3-4. For head coach Susan Weaselhead, it was a good start as the Maidens were beaten twice by Loyola-Sacred Heart during the regular season.
“They played really strong,” Weaselhead said about their first round victory. “They tightened up and did what they needed to do.”
In the semifinals game against number-one seeded Florence, the Lady Bulldogs boasted the biggest shocker of the tournament. MAC toppled the Lady Falcons 8-7, sending Florence to the consolation bracket and handing the Lady Falcons their second loss of the season. The win clinched the Lady Bulldogs into the championship game. Critical defensive plays helped the Lady Bulldogs secure the victory, including a huge snag over the centerfield fence by Morgan Malatare, which Weaselhead said “was crucial to saving runs.”
“It was pretty awesome,” Weaselhead said. “This was a big confidence booster.”
Maidens
Ronan’s Maidens went into the tournament with a second seed bye onto the semifinals. After a dominating 16-4 season, the Maidens had to work for their 11-10 semifinal win against Plains, which made for some worried faces after falling behind 3-9 to the Trotters in the top of the second inning. The Maidens rallied back in the sixth, starting out with a big solo homerun off the bat of first baseman Courtney Taylor to earn their spot in the championship game. Kendra Starkel went 3-4 with a double and four runs batted in. Head coach Dakota Peterson was pleased with the tenacity of her club and the comeback that led to the victory.
“First game was a little nerve wracking,” Peterson said. “We came back, it was exciting.”
Championship Game
In the battle of all battles, the Maidens and the Lady Bulldogs faced off in the title game in front of fully packed sidelines filled with fans from both sides. With every pitch the crowd roared with excitement, setting the tone and pumping up athletes on the diamond. MAC was first to put up numbers on the scoreboard, scoring two in the bottom of the second. The Maidens answered back with five runs in the top of the fifth, leading with Jasmine Bocksnick beating out a pickle to put the first run on the board for the Maidens. Thanks to spot-on defense by the Maidens, including key plays made by Maiden shortstop Kenzie Dulmes, the Lady Bulldogs had a tough time punching anything passed the infield — until MAC eighth and ninth hole batters Jaycee Anderson and Shania Dubois launched back to back homeruns in the bottom of the sixth. It was a first career homerun for Anderson, according to her parents. Though the Lady Bulldogs scored a couple more to bring the score to 7-5, a double play grounder ended the game with the Maidens finishing victorious and securing a top berth at the State tournament.
Pitcher Alaina Madsen picked up the championship win for the Maidens while catcher Kaitlyn Sassaman chipped in offense, going 1-2 with a pair of RBIs. Alison Roberts came away with an RBI off a double. For MAC it was all about the homeruns off the bats of Anderson and Dubois, but not without the added help of Courtney Charlo’s perfect 3-3.
Lady Bulldog Coach Weaselhead is pleased with MAC’s toughness and is ready to head to State.
“We were right there. Ronan’s a good team,” she said. “There was great play from my seniors and my young ones really stepped it up. We’re ready to show Conrad why we’re at State.”
As for the Maidens, Coach Peterson is excited and says her team is ready.
“Some of the pressure is off, we’ve improved a lot,” she said. “They’re not even nervous at all, they’re excited.”
Peterson is looking forward to another match-up between the two teams. She believes if they get through Florence, the Maidens may see the Lady Bulldogs in the State finals.
Both teams will head to State competition May 29-31 in Great Falls. Ronan will open against the fourth seed Eastern division Glasgow and MAC will play first game against Eastern division’s third seed Conrad.
Results
MAC
MAC 5 5 2 0 – 12
Thompson Falls 0 0 0 0 0 – 0
Mikaylan Roylance 0-3, Jordyn Eichert 1-2, Connor Smith 0-1, Alyssa Doty 0-2, Emilie Charlo 3-3, Morgan Malatare 2-3, Courtney Charlo 2-3, Jaycee Andersen 1-3, Shania Dubois 0-1, Ran’Dee Charlo 0-1.
2B – E. Charlo, Anderson. RBIs – E. Charlo (4), C. Charlo (2), Anderson (2), Malatare.
MAC 3 1 1 0 1 0 0 – 6
Loyola-Sacred Heart 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 – 3
Mikaylan Roylance 1-3, Jordyn Eichert 2-4, Connor Smith 2-5, Alyssa Doty 2-5, Emilie Charlo 0-3, Morgan Malatare 0-3, Courtney Charlo 1-4, Jaycee Anderson 0-3, Shania Dubois 3-4.
RBIs – Roylance, Doty, C. Charlo.
MAC 0 0 0 6 0 0 2 – 8
Florence 0 0 0 2 0 0 5 – 7
Mikaylan Roylance 1-4, Jordyn Eichert 1-3, Connor Smith 1-4, Doty 3-4, Emilie Charlo 1-4, Morgan Malatare 0-1, Courtney Charlo 2-3, Jaycee Anderson 1-3, Shania Dubois 1-3.
2B – Doty. RBIs – Doty (2), C. Charlo (2), Dubois (2), E. Charlo, Anderson.
Ronan
Ronan 3 1 2 0 0 5 – 11
Plains 1 8 0 0 1 0 0 – 10
Alaina Madsen 2-4, Kaitlyn Sassaman 1-3, Alison Roberts 1-3, Kenzie Dulmes 2-3, Kendra Starkel 3-4, Amanda Morency 2-4, Danielle Richwine 0-4, Courtney Taylor 2-3, Jordyn Clairmont 1-3.
2B – Madsen, Dulmes, Starkel, Taylor. HR – Taylor. RBIs – Starkel (4), Taylor (3), Dulmes (2), Morency.
Championship
Ronan 0 0 0 0 5 2 0 – 7
MAC 0 2 0 0 0 3 0 – 5
Ronan – Alaina Madsen 0-4, Kaitlyn Sassaman 1-2, Alison Roberts 1-3, Jordyn Clairmont 1-1, Kenzie Dulmes 0-4, Kendra Starkel 1-4, Amanda Morency 0-3, Danielle Richwine 1-2, Courtney Taylor 1-3, Jasmine Bocksnick 0-1.
MAC – Mikaylan Roylance 3-5, Jordyn Eichert 1-4, Connor Smith 1-4, Alyssa Doty 2-3, Emilie Charlo 0-3, Morgan Malatare 1-4, Courtney Charlo 3-3, Jaycee Anderson 1-3, Shania Dubois 1-3.
2B – Roberts, Starkel; Malatare. HR – Anderson, Dubois. RBIs – Sassaman (2), Roberts, Dulmes, Starkel; Anderson (2), Malatare, C. Charlo, Dubois.
