FLORENCE — Day Two of the Class B-C state softball tournament kicked off early Friday morning with both Mission-Arlee-Charlo (MAC) and Florence advancing to the undefeated semifinal later in the evening.
(2W) Mission-Arlee-Charlo 6, (1E) Columbus-Park City-Absarokee (Stillwater) 5
MAC jumped out with an early lead in the top of the first innings thanks to a three-run home run by cleanup hitter Izzy Evans. The freshman finished 2-for-4 at the plate with three RBI.
Her teammates Kate Young and Jerny Crawford added fuel to the fire with solo home runs in the second inning, adding to the Bulldogs' 5-0 lead.
Stillwater slowly chipped away at MAC's lead and found itself down by just one in the bottom of the fifth, 5-4. Senior Reed Johnson smoked a bomb over the left field fence to tie the game at 5-5.
However, MAC's Kooper Page answered back in the sixth with a solo home run to center field to retake the lead 6-5.
Page closed out the last two innings in the pitcher's circle, striking out four batters to advance the Bulldogs to the undefeated semifinal, where they'll be playing top-seeded Florence at 5 p.m. Friday.
(1W) Florence 9, (2E) Cut Bank 4
Florence's Kylie Kovatch had herself a day in the pitcher's circle, striking out 13 hitters to help advance the Wolves to the State B-C undefeated semifinal Friday evening.
The Falcons jumped out to an early 4-0 lead in the fourth inning. Freshman Autumn Sutton cranked a base hit to right field for an RBI. Her teammate Gabby Reed followed suit with a triple to left field, scoring two runners.
Cut Bank clawed its way back into game's reach with two home runs in the fifth inning by Kinlee Kovatch and Hannah Monroe to cut Florence's lead to 4-3.
Kinlee Kovatch scored in the sixth to tie it all up at 4-4, however the bats came alive in the seventh inning for Florence. The Falcons scored four unanswered runs to win 9-4, advancing to the State B-C undefeated semifinal.
Florence will play Mission-Arlee-Charlo at 5 p.m. Friday.
