MISSOULA – Missoula Sentinel swept its way into the State AA softball tournament with a dominating performance over crosstown rival Missoula Hellgate on Tuesday. The Spartans will take the No. 2 seed into the bracket in Helena next week.
Sentinel scored 11 runs in the first inning in Game 1 of the best-of-three series. Several walks and aggressive base-running gave the Spartans a couple runs before they had put a ball in play. The scoring slowed down slightly the rest of the way, and Sentinel finished the game due to the 10-run rule, 20-1 in five innings.
In Game 2, Hellgate got out of the first inning only giving up one run. But Sentinel exploded for 10 runs in the second, capped by a Taylor Brinkman grand slam. Sentinel once again needed only five innings to finish the win due to the 10-run rule. The Spartans won 11-0, clinching their spot in state.
