From rain delays to last minute comebacks to extra innings, there’s not a lot you didn’t see here in Lewistown for B-C softball. That includes a rematch of last year’s championship match between Florence-Carlton and St. Ignatius (Mission)-Arlee-Charlo, who are very familiar with each other. But it was Florence who came out on top again, by a score of 14-11, to capture the program's fourth title since 2017.
LINK: Scores, pairings from the State B-C softball tournament
“It’s always tough versus MAC,” Florence coach Maurice Craun said. "This is pretty much how it’s been with them. You know they’re going to push us to be better and vice versa.”
The semifinal match between these two teams was a barn burner and the game for all the marbles was no different.
FC got 5 RBI’s from Jaidyn Larson. 4 came off of RBI doubles and the fifth a triple.
FC errors let MAC get back into the game early. A throw to first wound up in the outfield and a few Bulldogs would get home to make it 5-3.
Later, Hayleigh Smith in the box, rips one up the middle for MAC and we have another shootout at 5 apiece.
Rheid Crawford wants to get MAC back in it. She belts one over the fence to cut the deficit in half.
Izzy Evans would hit a dinger to go back-to-back batters for MAC but could never get over the final hump.
MAC gave it their all, but Madison Potter put the dagger over the right field fence for a homer and Florence-Carlton prevails, defending their state crown 14-11 over MAC. The Falcons have now won four out of the last five championships.
“We’ve got a heck of a group of girls. We work hard in the offseason. Special ballplayers and they have been together playing for a long time, and you can see it. It shows,” Craun said. “I’ve been coaching these seniors since they were ten years old. It’s been a really special season.”
“We worked really hard throughout the whole season. We knew everyone was out to get us,” said Kolbi Wood, who is one of those seniors. "We all work well together. We have great coaches. It felt great that we could just pull it out.”
“Exciting sadness because this is my last time playing softball so I’m just glad I went out with these girls. You know I could always go to them. I would call them my family,” senior Jaidyn Larson said. “I could go to them for anything."
