Lady Loggers throttle Class AA Flathead

After five lead changes at Remp Field on Tuesday, the Libby Lady Logger softball team pulled out a 6-3 victory against the AA Flathead Bravettes, once again successfully defending their home turf.

The Bravettes jumped out to a 1-0 lead after a single from Rebecca Knutson drove in Abbie O’Brien from second base.

To start the second for Libby, Devon Gallagher outran a throw to first after her hit was briefly fumbled by the second baseman. After Rachel Rebo was walked, a deep fly ball caught by the center fielder pushed Gallagher to third base, where she slid head first to beat the throw. A little infield blooper by Dayln Germany would score Gallagher, tying the game at one apiece.

Hannah England kept the Flathead bats quiet for the next three innings, with three batters up and three batters down during the stretch that saw her strikeout six batters. England finished the game with 13 strikeouts.

Flathead was able to get four hits during the game, however a deep shot to center field by Grace Cady was tracked down and caught by Staci Regh.

“I’m happy that Hannah throws a lot of strikeouts, but it’s nice to get some plays in the field too,” Regh said.

Regh and Abby Ennenga both felt like the team was a little slow out of the gates on Tuesday.

“We didn’t really have the drive at the beginning, but by the end we got our enthusiasm and we actually tried,” Ennanga said. “Once I finally got a hit and Devon got her homerun it really started things.”

When No. 14 steps to the plate, drivers parked on the other side of the outfield fence beware, your car is in the danger zone. Gallagher’s homer in the bottom of the third followed a single from Ennenga and bounced off the hood of Tom Wood’s shiny Ford. The shot put the Loggers up 3-1.

The Bravettes mounted their comeback in the top of the sixth. After a strikeout by England, Kylee Meredith got a double off a deep shot to center/left field. A wild pitch allowed Meredith to move to third base and a bunt would allow her to score with England trying to throw her out at home.

Bravette Kaitlin Torgerson stole second base and a low inside pitch to the next batter empowered her to sneak to third base. A sacrifice fly to deep centerfield was snagged by Regh, but allowed Torgerson to touch home plate to knot the game up at 3-3.

The Loggers had a strong response in the bottom of sixth.

Rachel Rebo’s shot to the third baseman was mishandled, which gave her time to beat the throw to first. Next, Regh doubled with a hit to center. 

A few batters later, Germany got to first and an error by Flathead’s catcher let Rebo and Regh cross home, putting the Loggers back in charge, 5-3.

Jordan Turner came in as a courtesy runner for Germany and a ground ball to left field by Madisen Monigold gave her an opportunity to use her wheels. Turner rounded third and slid into home plate just as the throw from the outfield reached the pitcher. After the dust settled the home umpire paused for a moment before calling her safe.

Only three Flathead players made it to the batter’s box in the top of the seventh, two struck out.

Loggers’ head coach Dean Thompson said it’s good to get a win over a double-A opponent, but the team expected to show a little more offensive prowess in the game.

“We ended up playing a little better towards the end of the game,” he said.

Thompson said the team has a long week ahead, with a game against Polson Thursday and then a trip to Frenchtown for a two-day tournament over the weekend.

“We know what we need to do, but right now all that we’re doing is focusing on Polson,” he said. 

“We’ve got seven good leaders on this team. We also have a lot of talent on this team,” Thompson said. “When the talent comes all together, I tell you what, watch out.”

Polson comes to Libby on Thursday to face the Loggers at 6 p.m. at Remp Field.

Flathead-1 0 0 0 0 2 0  3 4 4

Libby-    0 1 2 0 0 3 X  6 9 1

W – England. L – Beccari.