Libby softball team headed to state tournament

The Libby Loggers softball team is headed to the state Class A tournament in Belgrade this week after a strong showing at the Class A West Divisional last weekend in Frenchtown.

Libby (13-11) will take on the fifth place finisher from the East, Fergus, in the first round at 11 a.m. Thursday. A Logger win would put them in a 3 p.m. game against East No. 1 Havre.

Libby was on the cusp of reaching the divisional title game before Columbia Falls scored six runs in the sixth inning to rally and claim an 8-7 win in the semifinals on Saturday.

Columbia Falls ended up winning the divisional with an 11-7 triumph over Polson.

Libby punched its ticket to state with a 22-15 win over Hamilton on Friday. The Loggers ended up fourth, falling to Frenchtown 13-0 in the third-place game.

The Loggers had the Wildkats on the ropes in the semifinals, putting up seven runs in the sixth inning — Phoenix Vincent’s 2-run homer started it and a 2-run double from Mackenzie Foss ended it — thanks partly to two Columbia Falls errors.

Down 7-2, the Wildkats got three 2-run doubles to make the comeback. The last two came with two outs.

Foss threw a complete game for Libby, allowing six hits and five walks while striking out 11. Just one of the eight runs allowed was earned.

Overall, Foss had a huge weekend. She homered and threw a 3-hit, 13-strikeout shutout in a 4-0 win over East Helena Friday. Then she homered again, doubled twice and drove in eight runs in the Loggers’ 22-15 win over Hamilton the same day.

That slugfest also featured two doubles each from Jaycee Wilson and Peyton Waggoner. Wilson and Vincent each drove in three runs; Paislee MacDonald, Jossalyn White, Phoenix Vincent and Wilson all had three hits each.

Foss and MacDonald scored four times each in the win, which clinched a spot in the semifinals — and Libby’s second berth into the State A tourney in three seasons.

Saturday’s scores

Game 11: Hamilton 9, Stevensville 2

Game 12: Butte Central 17, Browning 0

Game 13: Ronan 16, Whitefish 5

Game 14: Corvallis 17, East Helena 10

Game 15: Columbia Falls 8, Libby 7, semifinal

Game 16: Polson 5, Frenchtown 4, semifinal

Game 17: Hamilton 11, Butte Central 1

Game 18: Corvallis 6, Ronan 5

Game 19: Hamilton 9, Corvallis 4, fifth-sixth

Game 20: Frenchtown 13, Libby 0, third-fourth

Game 21: Columbia Falls 11, Polson 7, championship