CM Russell softball splits in Billings, Great Falls Bison drop two going into state
BILLINGS — Madeline Hamma tripled to right field and scored on a delayed steal and an error on the throw Saturday afternoon as C.M. Russell forged a split of their weekend series in the Magic City with a 1-0 whitewash win over Billings Senior, the last unbeaten team in Eastern AA conference play.
On Friday, the Rustlers dropped a 14-4 decision in five innings to second-place Billings West.
The result of the weekend puts CMR (9-5 league, 12-6-1 overall) in a virtual tie for third place in the Eastern AA with defending state champion Belgrade. The Rustlers received the No. 3 seed and will meet the No. 6 team out of the Western AA, Kalispell Glacier (6-8, 11-9) at 11 Thursday morning when the Class AA State Tournament opens at Fort Missoula Regional Park. Senior (13-1, 19-3) earns the No. 1 seed from the East and a first-round bye.
West (12-2, 20-2) will also get a first-round bye as the No. 2 seed.
Billings Skyview (5-8, 8-12) will have the fifth seed while Great Falls (5-9, 7-12), who dropped both games of their weekend set — 8-3 to Senior on Friday and 13-10 on Saturday to West — will have the sixth seed and play No. 3 from the West Helena High (8-5, 9-9-1) Thursday at 1 p.m.
CMR righty Brie Ginnaty fired a four-hit masterpiece against the Lady Broncs, walking just one batter and fanning a half dozen while only allowing two runners to reach as far as third.
Hamma tripled down the first base line with two out in the fourth. Jenna Etcheberry drew a walk on a 3-2 pitch, and CMR mentor Alex Lowry put on a play.
"I called a delayed steal, and it couldn't have worked out more perfectly," Lowry said. "Senior's catcher finally threw it down to second and tghe shortstop missed it.
"That's all we needed. Brie had a great game in the circle and our defensae was outstanding! I'm proud of our girls for showing up to compete today and to play for each other."
Senior hurler Kennedy Venner pitched well enough to win, only giving up one other hit — a single to Lauren Lindseth — while walking two and striking out 19 Rustlers.
Friday's loss to West was a much diufferent story, Lowry said: "We didn't show up to play today. You can't win a game when you only have three hits."
West did the bulk of their damage in the second and third frames, scoring six and four runs respectively. The Lady Bears added one in the fourth and used a solo homer from Morgan Kavron and a two-run clout by Ashley Wik to walk it off in the fifth.
The Lady Bison were down 8-0 to Senior on Friday after the second inning, and couldn't find a big enough shovel. They scored three times in the fifth, aided by a Haley Lins RBI single, but got no closer.
Saturday's game was a cloudburst of hitting, with the two teams combining for 17 hits. The Bison, however, had 16 singles and a double, while West drummed up three doubles and two homers among their 10 base hits.
Tehneson Ehnes got the start and the loss in both games, only throwing three innings against Senior before going the distance with West.
This article originally appeared on Great Falls Tribune: Montana prep softball: CMR splits in Billings, Bison drop 2
