Troy and Libby kickoff softball season together

In a game that was mostly a friendly competition, the class A Loggers defeated the class B Trojans, 8-2 in the first game and 13-3 in the second.

“We didn't play too badly except we had a few mental mistakes,” said Troy coach Russ Thompson, adding there has been only two days of of practice time in which the whole team was there, due to spring break and illness.

“We haven't had much organized practice,” he said. “It was the first day they pitched using a pitching rubber, so the loss was not from a lack of effort, but from a lack of practice time.”

Thompson said with proper practices and just getting outside they would improve, and the Trojans proved him right with a 18-4 win over Eureka the next night on the road.

The Trojans had four hits in the first game against Libby, which pitted their varsity against Libby's junior varsity.

Delsey Olds, Megan Ettiene, Alicia Anderson and Megan Cummings each got on base, with Olds and Cummings scoring.

Anderson started the game as pitcher, lasting four innings, giving up five runs and two hits, until relieved by Liz Straley in the fifth, who pitched two innings, giving up three runs and two hits.

Anderson struck out five and walked two, while Straley had no strike outs and walked two.

“Just having four walks in a game is an improvement over last year,” said Thompson, who added they averaged at least eight walks a game last year. “The control of the two pitchers is getting much better.”

Libby's softball coach, Dean Thompson, was pleased with the Loggers effort.

“It was really fun to watch them play last night. They really came together,” said Dean, noting the team has a lot of freshmen this year.

“Taylor Armstorng pitched a great game last night - she pitched the whole first game, and she's a freshman. She's probably right now our number three pitcher as far as the whole team,” he added.

Armstrong went the full game, giving up only two hits, two walks and striking out eight Trojans.

“We had eight total hits in the first game,” said JV coach Jeremy Hageness. “A lot of people had one hit, so we spread the hits around the team pretty well,” noting that Alysha Martin was two for four at batting.

Kimi Klin had a home run in the second game, driving in two runs to end the second game.

“We've got lots of things to work on, but for the most part we did well,” said Hageness.

The Loggers are scheduled to play three games in a row - Kalispell, Columbia Falls, and Timber Lake at home on Saturday.

“We have our first conference game against Columbia Falls, which should show us how our varsity stacks up,” added Hageness.

Meanwhile, the Trojans face Plains at home Monday, April 7 after playing Noxon at home Thursday, April 3 and Thompson Falls on the road, Friday, April 4.

“We did much better on defense as well as offense,” said Russ of his team's performance the next night against Eureka last Tuesday.

Anderson pitched the entire five innings, allowing two earned runs on three hits, six strikeouts and two walks.

Olds made three hits, four runs and one homerun, while Straley made three hits and four runs.

“We had only one error and had 13 hits in five innings,” said Russ. “The girls can see their potential if they stay focused and are in the game mentally.”