Libby beats Troy 11-7 at Libby

The Libby High School junior varsity softball team beat the Troy High School varsity team 11-7 Tuesday at Remp Field.

Though Troy’s Kaylee Tunison scored the Trojan’s first run off a ground out to first by Talise Becquart, Troy had a slow start early, and didn’t score another run until the fourth inning.

“We started flat. We didn’t have the energy that we did last Thursday,” Troy Head Coach Keith Haggerty said, referencing the 25-0 win over Bonners Ferry that started Troy’s season.

But the Loggers were ready to go from the start.

Libby junior varsity Coach Mandy Foss said that her players performed as she expected Tuesday.

“I think the energy was high when we came out, and the girls were ready to play,” she said. “I see some things we need to improve on, but some good things were happening, and we’ll just keep growing.”

In the bottom of the first, Libby’s Taylor Holm grounded out to Troy second baseman Izzy Ramirez, but the out gave Bethany Thomas a clear path home from third. Added to a run scored by Courtney Benson on a wild pitch, Holm gave the Loggers a 2-1 lead.

In the second inning, the Loggers built on their lead, holding the Trojans to no hits in the top of the inning as Libby pitcher Taylor Munro struck out two.

In the bottom of the inning, Benson sent Ashlyn Monigold home, getting a double on a fly ball to left field. Thomas followed with a grounder toward shortstop, making it safely to first and sending Benson home to score.

The Trojans closed the inning when third baseman Montana Rice caught Thomas attempting to steal third.

Becquart and Rice made base hits in the top of the third, but Becquart was left on third when the half inning ended.

In the bottom of the inning, Libby expanded the run gap. Keira Ward scored a run on an error in the outfield, and a grounder to shortstop by Ember Rode gave courtesy runner Keirsi Leigh a shot at home, giving the Loggers a 6-1 lead before the Trojans could close the inning.

Troy’s Izzy Ramirez broke the scoreless streak in the top of the fourth, getting a single off a hit to Munro on the mound. Troy’s Cami Finley made it home before Monro could get the ball to catcher Ember Rode, but Troy’s Mazzy Hermes wasn’t so lucky, and was tagged for the third out and the end of the half inning.

In the bottom of the inning, Libby’s Amaya Borden made a single out of a hard ground ball to shortstop, advancing to second on the throw, and sending Thomas home to make the score 7-2, Libby.

The Loggers held the Trojans to a single hit and no runs in the top of the fifth, and came back in the bottom of the inning to score three more runs: a ground out by Rode that allowed Ward to score, a single for Benson off a grounder to Troy pitcher Hermes that allowed Leigh to score, and a line drive base hit to left field by Thomas that sent Kayley Svendsbye in to score the 10th Logger run.

It wasn’t until the top of the sixth that the Trojans began to make a comeback. Becquart had a base hit on a fly ball to right field, and Paige Chapel reached home from second. Rice followed with a line drive to center field that took her to first and sent Ramirez in to score.

With the Trojans still trailing 10-5, Hermes held Libby to two hits and and one run in the bottom of the sixth.

Munro hit a line drive to center field for a single, and Ward made it home to give the Loggers an 11-7 lead. The half inning ended on a double play off a grounder by Tristyn Winebark at first to Becquart at shortstop.

In the top of the seventh, Hermes hit a line drive to center field that gave her a double and brought Finley in to score. Adeline Roesler-Begalke went in as a courtesy runner for Hermes, and the next batter, Harlee Huisentruit, brought Roesler-Begalke home with a double on a hard gounder to left field.

But Troy had no more hits that inning, and the game ended with Libby still holding their 11-7 lead.

Near the end of the game, even as Hermes slowed the Libby advance, Munro did begin to show some signs of fatigue as more of her pitches went wild.

Libby Head Coach Dean Thompson said that Munro is a powerful pitcher, but was beginning to tire by the end of the game.

On the flip side, Haggerty said that he felt his girls did begin to pick up as the game went on.

“They worked back through, they picked up with the hitting a little bit better, and they started playing a little bit better ball,” he said. “Years past, that would have been through the whole game — they would have just stayed down — but the team kept fighting.”

Haggerty said he was appreciative of that effort from the team, “and I think it still shows a little bit of their potential.”

Foss, a former all-stater from Libby who has returned to coach, said she is happy overall with the team’s performance, and excited about their potential.

“They’re learning every practice and every game, and we have high hopes,” she said.

Tuesday, April 4

Libby 11, Troy 7

T 100 103 2 - R:7 H:13 E:4

L 222 131 X - R:11 H:15 E:2

T: Kaylee Tunison 3-0, 1R, 2BB; Izzy Ramirez 4-0, 1R, 1BB, 2K; Talise Becquart 4-2, 1R, 2RBI; Montana Rice 3-2, 2RBI, 1BB; Tristyn Winebark 4-1, 1K; Cami Finley 4-3, 2R; Mazzy Hermes 4-2, 1RBI, 1K; Kyran Kelso 2-0, 2K; Harlee Huisentruit 2-1, 1RBI, 1K; Paige Chapel 4-1, 1R, 1K; Adeline Roesler-Begalke 0-0, 1R.

L: Courtney Benson 4-3, 2R, 2RBI; Bethany Thomas 3-3, 2R, 2RBI, 1BB; Amaya Borden 3-2, 1RBI, 1BB; Taylor Holm 3-0, 1RBI, 1K; Keirsi Leigh 1-0, 2R, 1K; Keira Ward 4-2, 3R, 1K; Taylor Munro 4-2, 1RBI; Ember Rode 4-1, 2RBI, 1K; Kayley Svendsbye 2-0, 1R, 1BB, 1K; Ashyln Monigold 3-2, 1R.

Batting: 2B - Benson, Ward; Hermes, Huisentruit; TB - Benson 4, Borden 2, Monigold 2, Munro 2, Rode, Thomas 3, Ward 3; Ramirez, Becquart 2, Rice 2, Winebark, Finley 3, Hermes 3, Chapel, Huisentruit 2; SB - Benson 2, Monigold, Rode; Chapel, Finley, Hermes, Rice, Tunison; ROE - Munro, Ward; Rice.

Pitching: W - Taylor Munro 7, 143 P, .587 S&, 12 H, 7 R, 3 ER, 8 SO, 4 BB; L - Mazzy Hermes 6, 104 P, .606 S%, 12 H, 15 R, 5 ER, 5 SO, 3 BB