WildKats claw Ronan, 16-4

Courtesy of John Heglie, Special to the Leader

CFalls 16, Ronan 4

At Ronan, the visiting Columbia Falls WildKats extended their claws and put multiple scratches on the scoreboard each inning to secure a NWA conference contest against the host Maidens that was called after five innings on account of the ten run rule.

In the top of the 1st after successive WildKats drew a pair of walks, number three batter Shaun Rowe singled home Jessica Owens to stake the visitors with a 1-0 lead. Cleanup hitter Niki Birky then followed with a 2 RBI double that plated Renae Nelson and Rowe to extend the Columbia Falls lead to 3-0. Middle-of-the-order batter Madison Sandefer then singled with enough gusto that was enough for the fleet-of-foot Birky to motor home for a 4-0 lead. The remainder of the order would come to the plate, but the Maidens would engineer a pair of outs, a just-missed fielder’s choice and a routine 6-3 putout to get out of the inning without any further damage. In the bottom of the 1st with one out, number two batter Ashleigh Lynch would draw a walk, but Ronan was unable to capitalize when the next two batters were retired.

In the top of the 2nd after the top-of-the-order was retired on a popup to the pitcher, Renae Nelson reached first safely after the second baseman couldn’t secure the ball when it deflected off her glove. She then stole second. Rowe followed by stroking a RBI triple to right field that plated the fleet-of-foot Nelson who could be justifiably re-christened with the forename “Run-ae” due to the speed that she exhibits on the base path. Cleanup hitter Birky reached first safely on a RBI fielder’s choice when the Maidens were unable to negate Rowe scoring from third.

Middle-of-the-order batter Sandefer then reached first safely on another fielder’s choice, only this time the Maidens were able to force the lead runner when shortstop Marissa “Mayhem” McCrea relayed the ball to second baseman Amber Quequesah to force out Birky. The Maidens came oh-so-close to turning a double-play, but Sandefer was just fast enough to beat the throw.

Number six batter Erika Nelson then singled, but when the ball got by the outfielder, Sandefer was able to score while Nelson advanced into scoring position at second. Number seven batter Jordan Lefebvre then hit a bouncer to third, but the throw to first was off target and got past the infielder, allowing Erika Nelson to cross the plate that mushroomed the score to 8-0 while a subsequent throwing error advanced the remaining baserunner to second. But the Maidens were able to stem any further bleeding by fielding the subsequent would-be infield hit toward right center accurately and throwing to first for the last out of the top half of the inning.

In the bottom of the 2nd, middle-of-the-order batter Lindsay Clairmont drew an opening walk. Number six batter Quequesah hit a tapper to the mound which was fielded and relayed to second to erase the lead runner who wasn’t quite able to dash fast enough to avoid the out. Two more outs would end the inning for the Maidens.

In the top of the 3rd, the bottom of the WildKat order flew out to center. Top-of-the-order batter Owens singled, then advanced to second on a throwing error. Number two batter Renae Nelson followed with a RBI single that plated Owens, advancing to second on the fielder’s choice that unsuccessfully attempted to negate the run. Nelson then stole third, just evading the attempt to make her pay for her forward designs. After Rowe popped up to the infield, Birky was hit by a pitch, then stole second to place a pair of runners in scoring positions. The opportunity was just too great for Sandefer to turn down as she stroked a twin RBI double to plate both Nelson and Birky to extend the WildKat lead further to 11-0. But the Maidens were able to get the final out to end the top half of the inning. In the bottom of the 3rd, Ronan would head back to the dugout 1-2-3 with a pair of putouts and a strikeout.

In the top of the 4th, opening batter Lefebvre flied out to center. Number eight pinch hitter Tessa Cowan took advantage of her opportunity by stroking a single toward the left-center gap which was crisply fielder, but the throw would not have arrived on time. Just recently back from a trip to Disney World/Land, Cowan tasted a little more of the Magic Kingdom when the ball got by the first baseman, allowing her to advance to second. Bottom-of-the-order hitter Kathrin Jetty then singled Cowan home, advancing to second when the Maidens attempted to negate the run crossing the plate. Leadoff hitter Owens popped up, which the Maiden catcher fielded for the second out. A succession of infield errors would allow Renae Nelson and then Row to reach first safely while Jetty advanced and scored to extend the WildKat lead to 13-0. Birky then hit a drive to center field, but outfielder Lynch was able to secure it for the third out.

In the bottom of the 4th, the Maiden bats awoke from their slumber. Number three batter Payge “La Fonda” DeLaurenti reached first when her liner deflected off the glove of the shortstop into left field. Cleanup hitter Alex “Black Belt” Dulmes drew a walk to place two runners on board with nobody out. After a strikeout, number six batter Quequesah reached on a fielder’s choice when the WildKats made an unsuccessful attempt to get the lead runner, which would have loaded the bases, but the ball got by the infielder and allowed DeLaurenti to score as the runners advanced. Number seven batter Turquoise “T-Rex” Haggard then ripped a RBI single to score a run. Number eight batter Katie “Crash” Andrews then collided her bat with the ball for another RBI single. The WildKats attempted to negate the runner heading to third, but the throw got past the infielder, allowing another run to score while Andrews took advantage of the miscue by attempting to stretch the opportunity into an additional base. But Columbia Falls was able to recover quickly from the misthrow and relayed the ball from shallow outfield to the pitcher to the infielder covering second to tag out Andrews for the second out. The bottom-of-the-Maiden-order then hit an infield chopper that was fielded and thrown to first for the final out of the inning.

In the top of the 5th, middle-of-the-order batter Sandefer opened with a single, then stole second. Subsequent batter Erika Nelson drew a walk, and both runners advanced into scoring position on a passed ball. That set the table for number seven batter Lefebvre, who stroked a 2 RBI double to plate both Sandefer and courtesy runner Tori Price to extend the Columbia Falls lead to 15-4. After a strikeout, bottom-of-the-order batter Jetty hit a RBI sacrifice that drew the coverage and allowed Lefebvre to plate for a 16-4 score. Top-of-the-order batter Owens singled. Renae Nelson reached first safely on an infield throwing error, but the Maidens were able to extract themselves from the inning without further damage by forcing Rowe to ground out.

In the top of the 5th, top-of-the-order McCrea drew a walk, then stole second. After a strikout, number three batter DeLaurenti singled to place two runners on board. At this juncture, it looked like the Maidens were poised to make a similar amount of noise as they did in the preceeding inning, but a strikout and a flyout behind second base would end the game unceremoniously for the Maidens.

Columbia Falls - 443 - 23 - 16
Ronan - 000 - 40 - 4

C-Falls - 13 hits, 2 errors. Ronan - 3 hits, 9 errors

Shaun Rowe and Erika Nelson. Alaina Madsen and Katie Andrews. W - Rowe (4 strikeouts, 3 hits, 4 walks). L - Madsen (1 strikeout, 13 hits, 3 walks, hbp).

CFALLS (5-1, 12-1) - Jessica Owens 2-4, Renae Nelson 1-4, Rowe 2-5, Niki Birky 1-3, Madi Sandefer 3-4, E. Nelson 1-3, Jordan Lefebvre 1-4, Jaylynn Cantu 0-2, Kathrin Jetty 1-3, Tessa Cowan 1-2.
RONAN (1-5, 5-12) - Marissa McCrea 0-2, Ashleigh Lynch 0-2, Payge DeLaurenti 1-2, Alex Dulmes 0-2, Lindsay Clairmont 0-2, Amber Quequesah 0-2, Turquoise Haggard 1-2, Andrews 1-2, Madsen 0-2.

3B - Rowe. 2B - Birky, Sandefer, Lefebvre.
RBIs - Sandefer 3, Birky 3, Rowe 2, Lefebvre 2, Jetty 2, R. Nelson, Haggard, Andrews. sp
SacH - Jetty. SB - R. Nelson 2, Birky, Sandefer, Cantu.

Unofficial game summary by John Heglie in collaboration with Maiden statistician Christina Richwine and team manager John Romero. Some details may vary from official game data.