Lady Loggers softball drops first game

Tom Petty sang that “waiting is the hardest part.” Well, the waiting is over: High school sports have returned.

Libby's Lady Loggers kicked off their 2022 softball season on March 20. Ramps Field was the site as the team hosted the Corvallis Lady Blue Devils in non-conference action.

The Lady Blue Devils are ranked as one of the top teams in the Southwestern A Conference.

Despite an early 5-run lead, a couple of Lady Blue Devil seeing-eye singles and two-out bloopers allowed Corvallis to earn a hard-fought 11-8 win over Libby.

With a ground out and two strike outs by Lady Logger pitcher Taylor Monro in the top of the first inning, the Lady Loggers took their first turn at-bat.

Libby lead-off hitter Courtney Benson slapped a single to right field to the start inning after a walk. MacKenzie Foss then hit a single to right field to knock in the first Lady Logger runs for the new season.

Two batters later, a hard-liner to center field by Mylie Rayome then made the score 4-0.

A Lyndee McElmurry sacrifice groundout brought in another run for the Lady Loggers then to hold a five-run lead over the Lady Blue Devils after one inning.

That was all of the runs the Lady Loggers would see until the bottom of the seventh inning.

“We hit the ball today,” Lady Logger coach Dean Thompson said. “We just weren’t able to string them together when runners were in scoring position.”

Earlier in the game, a slow-rolling single combined with a run-batted-in double put Corvallis on the board in the top of the second inning.

With a two-run tater to right center field in the top of the third inning, Corvallis narrowed Libby’s lead to 5-3.

The bottom of the sixth inning saw Paislle MacDonald blast one to right field, coming within feet of the fence.

With two more Lady Blue Devil runs, the Lady Loggers entered the bottom of the seventh inning trailing 11-5.

The Lady Loggers then stepped it up with an Aleesha Braden single and Jossalyn White taking one for the team to walk. Later, Madison Vincent knocked in a run with a sacrifice grounder.

The Lady Blue Devils changed pitchers, and MacDonald greeted her first pitch with an unwelcome single to left field.

That would be the Lady Loggers last base runner, with Corvallis winning 11-8.

“Paislle hit the ball well today,” Thompson said. “She hit it hard. “It’s early in the season. We’ll work on our defense.”

The Lady Loggers will travel Saturday to face the Frenchtown Lady Broncs, who also have been picked to finish strong in conference play.