COLUMBIA FALLS — By defeating their rivals Columbia Falls 5-4 last week, the Whitefish Bulldogs improved to 10-2 and locked up the No. 1 seed in the Northwest division in the inaugural season of high school baseball in Montana.
"The team played good. We played composed. I think we did a great job keeping in the game and not letting it get to our heads," said senior pitcher Ty Schwaiger. "They came back a little bit there but we battled back and we kept the lead. And Logan Kunz came in, shut the door, a great save. And I think we just played a great team win."
With the state tournament beginning May 18 in Butte, the pitcher and Washington State commit knows the team is firing on all cylinders at the right time.
"I feel like the team’s finally coming together, we're finally getting our bats warmed up. Beginning of the season, we were kind of slow on offense. Our defense has always been pretty good, but our offense is starting to fire up," said Schwaiger. "I think we have a real shot at going and getting the championship and I think it's gonna be a grind, but it's gonna be fun and we're gonna have to have the whole team go out there and win."
Teammate and catcher Fynn Ridgeway, who scored a run in the fourth inning for the Bulldogs, couldn’t be happier to be wrapping up the regular season with a close game against their rivals.
"You know, first of all, just props to C-Falls man. I mean, every single time we play them in every single sport, it's a battle, and I love it, it's sweet," said Ridgeway. "But it means a lot, you know. Couple different things there; we just clinched state, obviously clinched conference, and we knocked them out of state you know, it feels good. Props to them, it was awesome."
Ridgeway also echoed Schwaiger’s thoughts and couldn’t be more grateful to have the future Washington State pitcher on the mound.
"I think we're doing good right now. You know, our offensive approaches are pretty solid right now. Defense is playing well," said Ridgeway. "When a guy like Ty goes out there and pitches, defense isn't really ready most of the time. And we played well tonight; defensively offensively, you know, we got the job done. So it means a lot going into the tournament."
