HAMILTON — Here are the results from the first day of the State A softball tournament in Hamilton. Scores, pairings and brackets from the State A tournament can be found here.
PHOTOS: STATE A SOFTBALL TOURNAMENT DAY 1
Frenchtown 5, Laurel 2
In the final game of the day, Frenchtown defeated Laurel 5-2 in the second round of the State A softball tournament to advance to the semifinals.
Frenchtown, last year's runners-up, cracked the game open in the fourth inning with three runs, started by an RBI from Toni Beatty. Abby Faulhaber followed suit to make it 2-0, then Faulhaber was brought home on a bunt to cap the three-run inning.
Frenchtown added two more runs in the fifth inning for insurance. Sadie Smith pitched the complete game for Frenchtown and racked up six strikeouts. The Broncs will take on Havre at 1 p.m. on Friday in the semifinals while Laurel will play Ronan in a loser-out game at 11 a.m. on Friday.
Havre 6, Butte Central 0
After scoring an early run in the first inning, Havre used a three-run third inning to pull away from Butte Central as the Blue Ponies won 6-0 on Thursday afternoon.
Alyssa Oliver hit an RBI-single to make it 2-0 Havre, then Molly Huse followed up with a standing RBI-triple to add one more run. Hannah Gingery added the final RBI of the inning for Havre, and the Blue Ponies added a pair of runs in the sixth inning to seal it.
Elle Verploegen struck out four in seven innings to lead Havre on the mound.
Havre, the top Northeast A seed, will play Frenchtown in the semifinal round on Friday. Butte Central will play Livingston in a loser-out game on Friday at 11 a.m.
Billings Central 4, Corvallis 0
Behind their pitching and defense, Billings Central grinded out a 4-0 win over Corvallis to advance to the semifinal round on Thursday.
Peyton Whitehead was lights out on the mound for the top-seeded Rams. She allowed just five hits over seven innings and struck out eight batters. Whitehead also scored a pair of runs and drove home a run as Central took down the Blue Devils.
The Rams will take on Columbia Falls at 1 p.m. on Friday in the semifinals. Meanwhile Corvallis will play Glendive at 9 a.m. on Friday in a loser-out game.
Columbia Falls 14, Lewistown 0 (5 innings)
Columbia Falls started fast and never looked back as the Wildkats topped Lewistown 14-0 to advance to the State A softball semifinal round.
After scoring three runs in the opening inning, Columbia Falls added seven runs in the third inning to blow the game open. Tayler Lingle scored three times and had two singles and a double, while Haden Peters hit a three-run home run for Columbia Falls. Aspen Dawson also had three hits and a pair runs scored for the Wildkats.
On the mound, Maddie Moultray allowed just two hits and one walk and struck out eight batters as Columbia Falls now will take on Billings Central in the semifinals at 1 p.m. on Friday. Lewistown will take on Polson at 9 a.m. on Friday in a loser-out game.
Laurel 9, Glendive 5
Despite digging themselves into a hole, Laurel climbed out and topped Eastern A foe Glendive 9-5 for a first-round win at the State A softball tournament.
Laurel, the No. 2 Southeast A seed, went down 5-0 by the third inning, but began to chip away with three runs in the fourth frame. Four more runs followed in the fifth inning as the Locomotives took the lead for good and then they added two more runs in the sixth inning. Josie Benson scored three of Laurel's runs in the game while Mia Andersen scored a pair.
After entering the game in relief, Ella Crookston shut Glendive down the rest of the way, and struck out six of the final seven batters she faced.
Butte Central 4, Polson 3 (8 innings)
Butte Central, the No. 3 seed from the Southwest A, opened up the tournament with a 4-3 win over defending champion Polson on Thursday.
Polson was the No. 2 seed from the Northwest A.
Brooke Badovinac scored Sofee Thatscher on a double in the top of the eighth inning to drive home the game-winning run for the Maroons.
Corvallis 9, Ronan 3
Corvallis defeated Ronan 9-3 in the second game of the day to advance to the next round of the State A tournament.
Gabby Krueger hit a pair of home runs to lead Corvallis offensively while Macee Greenwood also hit a home run and led the way on the mound for the Blue Devils.
After Corvallis built an 8-0 lead, Ronan scored three runs in the sixth inning to keep things interesting but that was as close as they got. Corvallis entered the tournament as the No. 2 seed from the Southwest A while Ronan was the No. 3 seed from the Northwest A.
Lewistown 7, Livingston 6
Despite entering the bottom of the seventh down by three, Lewistown rallied back and topped Livingston 7-6 to advance to the next round of the State A softball tournament.
Anna Vanek drove in the game-winning run for Lewistown on an error in the field from Livingston as the Eagles walked the game off.
Kiya Foran and Shelby Sannar each scored a pair of runs for Lewistown.
Lewistown entered the tournament as the No. 2 seed from the Northeast A while Livingston was the No. 3 seed from the Southeast A.
