By Dixie Knutson
COLUMBIA FALLS - It only took one little bloop single.
The situation looked fairly dire for the Columbia Falls Wildkat softball team as it headed into the bottom of the fourth inning in its season opener on Thursday.
The Wildkats trailed Ronan by seven runs - and up until that moment, they had managed just one hit.
But Jessica Owens blooped the first offering from Ronan pitcher Bethany Colman toward the circle, then beat the throw to first base.
Suddenly, everybody on the Columbia Falls team became a hitter.
"Once somebody broke the ice, it seemed like everybody came around," said Columbia Falls coach Dave Kehr.
Six hits and 10 runs later (including a grand slam home run by pitcher Shaun Rowe), the Wildkats owned a lead they wouldn't relinquish. They went on to claim a 15-9 Northwestern A victory.
"Big conference win, great comeback. It was a tough way to start, but they did a good job of coming around. They had a big inning, a 10-run inning and they did a great job with it," Kehr said of the Wildkats.
"I think our mindset was ‘it's our first game. We got nervous,'" Rowe said.
"(The Maidens) were just making contact, hitting it to the holes and running the bases very smartly," she said.
"We got a couple innings out of the way, we got (Colman's) timing down. We had a little talk between innings that we needed to get scores, but it was only the fourth so we had a couple innings," she said.
"We talked about (the hitting). We said ‘just go up and hit, right way rather than getting into holes. So I think they went up there looking to hit more, they were a little more aggressive at the plate," Kehr said.
"All the girls contributed in that inning, courtesy runners, everybody," he added.
Rowe followed Owens with a single. From there, the floodgates opened. There were five more hits, a fielder's choice in which everyone was safe and a dropped third strike that Katherine Jetty beat out.
By the time Rowe got back to the plate, the Wildkats were down just 7-6 and still had just one out.
She sent Colman's 1-0 offering over the centerfield fence.
"It was a lucky hit, I guess," she smiled.
"I thought it was a nice pitch and I knew that one was going to be mine. "Actually, I thought it wasn't over (the fence). I saw the girl trip over the fence and I started to scream on the bases," Rowe said.
"That's the second year in a row that she hit a grand slam (against Ronan)," Kehr said. "She did it down there, too. She's a good hitter. She does a good job at the plate," he said.
"I was happy with the way Shaun stuck in their ptiching. She struggled a little bit at times, but stayed with it," he said.
Ronan fought back - it had base runners in the fifth and then scored two more runs in the sixth - and loaded the bases in the seventh before finally bowing out as the sun set on the 2 3/4 hour marathon.
Ronan - 002 - 502 - 0 - 9
Columbia Falls - 000 - (10)50 - 15
Ronan - 11 hits and three errors. C-Falls - 11 hits and four errors
Maidens batting - Marissa McCrea 2-4, Bethany Colman 3-5, Katie Andrews 2-5, Payge Delauranti 0-3, Lindsay Clairmont 2-4, Ashleigh Lynch 1-4, Alex Dulmes 1-4, Turquoise Haggard 1-4, Alana Madsen 0-2.
HR - Haggard. 2B - Andrews. RBI - Clairmont 2, Andrews 2, Haggard 2.
Maidens pitching - Colman gets the loss (0-2), pitches complete game, 8K
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