(From John Heglie, iHigh.com)
At Ronan, the host Maidens rallied past the visiting Lady Bulldogs to post their first conference win of the season. In the top of the 1st, Whitefish would take a couple of bites out of the Maidens when they capitalized on a pair of opening walks to Madison Cross and Emma Baldonado and a grounder to the mound that was relayed to third, but failed to get the lead runner in time. After a strikeout, middle-of-the order hitter Emily Stiver layed down a sacrifice hit to plate Cross for a 1-0 lead. Number six batter Kaia Morrison drew a third walk of the inning. Number seven hitter Andrea Lamoureux hit a grounder toward the gap between second and first, which was fielded, but the throw didn’t have enough umph on it to get the runner in time, allowing another run to score. A total of three runs would cross the plate before Ronan could extract themselves from the inning. In the bottom of the 1st, Ashleigh “Rocket” Lynch would outrace the coverage to make it safely to first. Number three hitter Katie “Crash” Andrews would then smack a RBI double to plate Lynch to trim the deficit to 3-1. After a subsequent Maiden strikeout, Andrews was caught stealing to end the Ronan threat.
In the top of the 2nd, bottom-of-the-order batter Jessica Vail would reach first safely when the infielder muffed their handling of the throw. Top-of-the-order hitter Cross then laced a RBI triple to plate Vail. Baldonado would beat out a bunt to plate Cross for another run. A walk to Madison “Mad Dawg” Tveidt would place another runner on the base path. A fly-out and a strikeout were interspersed with fielding errors to allow Baldonado to plate to extend the Whitefish lead further to 6-1 before a strikeout would end the inning. In the bottom of the 2nd, freshman Brittney Mock stroked a strong one-out double, but aggressive Whitefish fielding of the hit by the second base infielder caught Mock vulnerable after rounding second a little too far to negate the extra base hit. A single by Turquoise “T-Rex” Haggard and a subsequent walk to Alex Dulmes would place two more runners on base before Whitefish would snuff the threat with their third out.
In the top of the third, the Maidens swapped out their first-year pitcher for their more seasoned veteran, who proceeded to open with a strikeout, a walk, then a pair of strikeouts to retire the Lady Bulldogs back to the dugout. In the bottom of the 3rd, top-of-the-order hitter Marissa “Mayhem” McCrea opened with a single. Number two batter Lynch was then called out for leaving the box early. Andrews reached on a fielder’s choice when Whitefish failed in their attempt to get the lead runner at second. Payge “La Fonda” DeLaurenti would then stroke a two-out RBI single to plate McCrea for another run to trim the lead 6-2 before Whitefish would extract themselves from the inning. In the top of the 4th, number six hitter Kaia Morrison would draw a two-out walk, but the courtesy runner would be called out for leaving the base early. In the bottom of the 4th, Dulmes would hit a one-out single. After a strikeout for the second out, top-of-the-order batter McCrea beat out an infield bunt to advance the runner. Lynch then beat out an infield hit to load the bases. Andrews would come to the plate, work the pitcher to a full count and then beat out a dropped-third-strike that would allow Dulmes to plate to whittle down the lead to 6-3. Cleanup hitter Lindsey “Dash” Clairmont then stroked a liner to right field which Whitefish outfielder Vail snow coned for the third out to snuff the bases-loaded threat.
In the top of the 5th after an opening strikeout, number eight hitter Jayde Eason would reach first safely on a throwing error by the shortstop. Courtesy runner Jordan Thorsteinson would advance to second on a bunt by Vail, but upon rounding the bag, Maiden catcher Andrews fired the ball to first in an attempt to nab an overzealous Vail, who got back safely. While this was taking place, Thorsteinson made a bold attempt to pinch third in the confusion, but first baseman Dulmes fired the ball to third once Vail had returned to first to pick off the courtesy runner at third for the second out. A walk to leadoff hitter Cross would still place two runners on the base path with two out, but a flyout to center ended the threat.
In the bottom of the 5th, the Maiden offensive machine that had scored over forty runs in the past two games finally found traction. DeLaurenti led off the inning with a solid double. Fantastic frosh “Big Dawg Bert” Mock, another of the magnificent Maiden M&M‘s that aren’t prone to melt under the heat of competition, followed with a wicked liner to right field that zipped past the outfielder all the way to the fence for a strong triple. In her attempt to track down the ball, the ankle of the outfielder became entangled in the chain link fencing when her footing slid underneath, hampering her relay throw to her teammate. Mock rounded third and beat the coverage home for an inside-the-park home run to narrow the Whitefish lead to 6-5. Follow-up batter Haggard was hit-by-a-pitch, then a pair of successive singles loaded the bases. Top-of-the-order batter McCrea grounded to the mound and reached on a fielder‘s choice when Whitefish elected to negate the run at the plate. A bases-loaded walk to Lynch would plate Dulmes. A single by number three hitter Andrews would generate a pair of RBIs and plate Madsen and McCrea. Clairmont then stroked a 2 RBI double to plate Lynch and Andrews. Mock would pick up her second hit in the same inning with a two-out RBI single that would plate Clairmont before Whitefish could extract themselves from the inning which now found them in the hole 11-6.
In the top of the 6th, Emily Stiver would smack a solo home run with two outs to pick up the only other run for Whitefish to trim the score to 11-7. For the Maidens, their tempestuous tirade upon Whitefish pitching would carry over into the bottom of the 6th. With one out, frosh phenom Madsen would show off those fast wheels that undergird her chassis by safely beating out the coverage of a bunt down the right field line to make it safely to first. A single by McCrea and a bunt that Lynch beat out safely to first would load the bases for Andrews, who obliged the gift bestowed upon her by belting a 2 RBI double to plate both Madsen and McCrea and extend Ronan’s lead further to 13-7. Clairmont would follow that up with another 2 RBI double that would plate Lynch and Andrews, further burgeoning Ronan’s lead to 15-7. At this juncture, Whitefish elected to change pitchers in an attempt to apply triage to the hemorrage and stop the bleeding. After a pair of walks that would load the bases once again, Baylee Tveidt showed why she has been nicknamed with the acronym “LS” by posting back-to-back strikeouts to snuff any further threat. A squib single by Eason in the top of the 7th would be the last hit the Lady Bulldogs would generate and the effort would be insufficient to overcome the deficit.
Whitefish - 330 - 001 - 0 -
7
Ronan - 101 - 184 - x -
15
Whitefish - 5 hits, 1 error. Ronan - 21 hits and 4 errors.
Emma Baldonado, (6) Baylee Tveidt (2 strikeouts, 2 walks) and Erika Nelson. Alaina Madsen (3 strikeouts, 2 hits, 4 walks), (3) Bethany Colman and Katie Andrews. W - Colman ( [3-7] 10 strikeouts, 3 hits, 3 walks), L - Baldonado (2 strikeouts, 21 hits, 2 walks, hbp)
WHITEFISH - Madison Cross 1-2 (3W), Baldonado 1-3, Madison Tveidt 0-3, B. Tveidt 0-4, Emily Stiver 1-3, Kaia Morrison 0-2 (2W), Andrea Lamoureux 0-2 (E,E), Jayde Eason 1-3, Jessica Vail 1-3, Mason Brubaker (cr) 0-0, Jordan Thorsteinson (cr) 0-0.
RONAN - Marissa McCrea 3-5, Ashleigh Lynch 3-4, Andrews 3-5, Lindsay Clairmont2-5, Payge DeLaurenti 2-4, Brittney Mock 3-4, Turquoise Haggard 1-4, Alex Dulmes 2-4, Alaina Madsen 2-4, Christine Robinson 0-0, Colman 0-0.
HR - Stiver, Mock. 3B - Cross. 2B - Andrews 2, Clairmont 2, DeLaurenti, Mock. RBIs - Stiver 2, Cross, Baldonado, Lamoureux, Andrews 5, Clairmont 4, Mock 3, DeLaurenti, Lynch. SacH - Stiver, SB - Cross, Clairmont. CS - Thorsteinson, Andrews.
unofficial game data by John Heglie. Some details may vary from official summary.
Here are some photos from the game.
