Softball: Defending state champs down Lady Loggers

Defending state champion Frenchtown came to Libby on Saturday afternoon with a lot of new faces. But the Class A Broncs aren’t rebuilding … it appears they’re just reloading.

Freshman Abby Indreland struck out seven and walked just one and the Frenchtown offense pounded out 14 hits and smacked two home runs in a 17-5 victory over the Lady Loggers.

“They hit the ball and are very well-coached,” LHS coach Dean Thompson said. “They’ve had three games already and this is our first.”

Thompson wasn’t making excuses for the Libby loss but was pointing out the fact that competing in actual games can make a difference. The Broncs lost eight players off last year’s state championship team but the newcomers were able to get some games under their belts before facing Libby.

Following a 9-4 win over Timberlake, Idaho, in the next game, the Broncs improved their record to 4-1.

“I think we came out a little flat,” said Thompson, whose team trailed 10-0 three innings into the contest. “We’ve been practicing four or five weeks and we didn’t even know last night if we would be playing today.”

The Broncs shot out to a 2-0 lead with one out in the first on a two-run shot by sophomore Keller Leishman. In the second, Frenchtown pushed two more runs across in the second and then broke the game open in the third with six more.

Sakai Scheffer and Leishman hit back-to-back two-out doubles and Kayla Bordner followed with a two-run shot to put the Loggers in a hole.

Libby put together its best inning in the fifth. Alyssa Walker, Jaime Gilden and Alysha Martin hit three straight singles to get the offense rolling a little. Following an RBI groundout by Lexi Hageness, Candace Hendrickson reached on an infield single when she hustled down to first base to beat out the play. Martin scored during the inning on a wild pitch.

Libby scored in the sixth on an RBI single by Walker to score Emily Monroe, who had reached earlier on a double. In the seventh, Martin doubled to the fence and later scored on a Bronc throwing error to third base.

Eleven different players collected hits for Frenchtown.

“We play the tough teams for a reason – we want to get better,” Thompson said.

Walker went 3-for-3 to lead LHS at the plate. Martin and LaRona Luscher each had a pair of hits.

Taylor Armstrong went the distance at pitcher. She fanned eight and walked five.

Another freshman pitcher from Frenchtown performed well in the next game, the Broncs’ five-run victory over Timberlake. Holly Jacobs allowed just five hits and two walks while striking out two. Indreland pitched the final two innings and struck out three.

Leischman had another big game by going 4-for-5 with four RBIs. Madison McGuire went 3-for-4.

Libby finished its opening day with a 13-3 loss to Timberlake. The Tigers pulled away in the top of the third by breaking a 2-2 tie with six runs while pitcher Nicole Cameron was nearly unhittable.

Cameron fanned 16 Loggers and allowed six hits in the Tigers’ victory. Cameron had struck out 10 batters in the loss to Frenchtown.

“We seemed to step up and started to get some clutch hits,” Timberlake coach Mike Menti said. “Our defense came to play a little bit against Libby.”

Sydney Malloy hit a two-run double in the fourth and Jenna Hoffman added a three-run homer in the seventh for Timberlake.

Hageness went 2-for-4 with a double and one RBI to lead the Loggers. Gilden, Martin, Taylor Barton and Monroe each had one hit. Stacey Oedewaldt took the loss at pitcher.

Libby (0-2) was scheduled to play at Ronan on Tuesday. The Loggers will host Whitefish on Saturday at 3 p.m., and then play at home again on Monday at 2 p.m., against Ronan.

For video highlights of Libby vs. Frenchtown, click here.

Frenchtown 17, Libby 5

Scoring by Innings:

Frenchtown 226 002 5—17

Libby           000 031 1— 5

FRENCHTOWN (17)

Kees 1-3, K. Indreland 1-2, Scheffer 1-3, Oostdyk 0-2, Leishman 2-2, Warren 1-2, Bordner 2-4, A. Indreland 0-3, Lester 1-3, Teeters 0-1, Jutila 1-3, Harlan 1-1, McGuire 2-4, Jacobs 0-1, Hulla 1-4, Jesse Pengelly 0-2.

LIBBY (5)

Gilden 1-4, Martin 2-4, Hageness 0-4, Hendrickson 1-4, Luscher 2-4, Armstrong 0-3, Barton 0-3, Monroe 1-3, Walker 3-3.

2B–Scheffer, Leishman, Luscher, Monroe, Martin. HR–Leishman, Bordner. RBI–Leishman 5, Scheffer 2, Bordner 2, McGuire 3, Martin, Hageness, Jutilia, Walker, Pengally, Hulla. W–A. Indreland (2-0). L–Armstrong (0-1).

Timberlake 13, Libby 3

Scoring by Innings:

Timberlake 206 200 3—13

Libby          200 000 1— 3

TIMBERLAKE (13)

Malloy 1-5, Cameron 1-3, Hill 2-4, Hoffman 1-3, Jerome 2-5, Neal 1-4, Bitner 1-2, Muhlhauser 1-2, Driggs 0-4.

LIBBY (3)

Gilden 1-3, Martin 1-3, Luscher 0-3, Hendrickson 0-3, Hageness 2-4, Armstrong 0-3, Barton 1-3, Monroe 1-2, Walker 0-2.

2B–Malloy, Jerome, Hageness. HR–Hoffman. W–Cameron (1-4). L–Oedewaldt (0-1).