Pirates take no prisoners: Lady Pirates blow away Whitefish in home opener
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Polson fans got to see one for the ages Friday as the Lady Pirates opened the home part of their softball schedule with a 46-0 shellacking of the visiting Whitefish Lady Bulldogs.
In a contest that saw the Lady Bulldogs throw 24 wild pitches and walk 21 Polson batters, the Lady Pirates took advantage of the situation to score seven runs in the opening inning, nine in the second, 10 in the third and a whopping 20 in the fourth.
"I don't think we have ever scored that many runs in an inning before, but I would have to look back to be certain," Lady Pirate head coach Larry Smith said about the offensive explosion. "I know we have scored more total runs in a game before. It was against Browning and it was quite a few years ago. I couldn't give you an exact number but we scored somewhere in the 50s."
Whitefish had trouble finding the strike zone all evening as the Lady Bulldogs pitchers combined to throw 226 pitches in the contest, only 90 of which were strikes. When Whitefish did find the strike zone, the Polson batters seemed ready for them as the Lady Pirates pounded out 25 hits in the win.
"The girls were excited with it being their first home game of the season. I think they were just feeling good about themselves and just about everyone was able to do whatever they wanted to at the plate," Smith said. "I think the biggest thing was the problems with control that their (Whitefish) pitchers had. There were a lot of passed balls and walks and those led to a lot of runs for us."
Polson's pitchers, on the other hand, had no trouble finding the plate as Shay Duford picked up her second win of the season after giving up just three hits and two walks while striking out 11.
Kodi Woods led Polson at the plate in the win, going 5-7 with four RBIs while Shay Duford was 4-6 and drove in five runners.
Heidi Rausch, Sallie Sams and Martina Marquardt all finished with four hits each for Polson, which went 25-41 at the plate as a team.
Rausch finished with a double and a triple while Shay Duford, Sams and Kylie Knutson all had doubles in the victory.
While the win may have been a lopsided one, Smith says his team can't be content with where they are at and must be mindful of a letdown after such a one-sided victory.
Summary
POLSON SOFTBALL
Polson 46, Whitefish 0
Whitefish 000 00 - 0 3 7
Polson 79(10) (20)x - 46 25 1
Baylee Tveidt and Kara Morrison. Shalaina Duford, Martina Marquardt (4) and Kayla Duford. W - S. Duford (2-1). L - Tveidt.
WHITEFISH - Emma Baldonado 1-3, Andrea Lamourex 0-3, Tveidt 0-2, Madison Tveidt 0-1, Emily Stiver 0-2, Kaia Morrison 0-1, Haley Hunnewell 0-1, Madison Cross 1-2, Hanna Lewis 0-1, Jessica Vail 0-1, Jayde Eason 1-1.
POLSON - Kody Woods 5-7, K. Duford 2-4, Heidi Rausch 3-4, S. Duford 4-6, Sally Sams 3-5, Ashley Johnson 0-1, Kylie Knutson 1-3, Makaliah Wilson 1-3, Marquardt 3-3, Stephanie Angle 1-2, Colleen Jacobson 2-2, Jordan Evertz 0-0, Jaylin Kenney 0-2.
2B - Baldonado, Cross, Knutson, S. Duford, Rausch. RBIs - Woods 4, K. Duford, Rausch 4, S. Duford 5, Sams, Johnson, Wilson, Marquardt 3, Angle 2.
"That is a concern for us. We don't want to get caught thinking too highly of ourselves," he said. "It's still early in the season and we have a lot of work to get done."
Madison Tveidt took the loss for the Lady Bulldogs, who fell to Columbia Falls 11-1 Saturday.
Polson's next game will be in Ronan Tuesday evening before the Lady Bulldogs travel to Hamilton Thursday.
