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By Coach Lauren Bartoe
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The Badger
girls beat the undefeated Priest River
Spartans Tuesday, and fought a rare and
valiant battle against the St. Maries
Lumberjacks Saturday, forcing a rare
triple-header after a two-point win in
the series opener. |
On Tuesday, April 19, the Bonners Ferry Badger
softball team hosted conference opponent
Priest River.
The Spartans jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the
first inning, adding two more runs in the third
inning creating a 4-0 deficit for the Badgers.
In the bottom of the
fourth, Mattea Bertling began the comeback with
a hard hit double. Becca Farrens followed,
getting on base from an error, and Lindsay
Taggart's single brought in Bertling for the
first run of the day, making it 4-1 Spartans.
The bottom of the fifth
produced two more runs as a result of a walk by
Chelsea Taggart and a double from Aubree Wasmer.
Aaramie Hoisington stepped
in to get a timely walk, which allowed Wasmer to
score. The sixth inning was enough for the
Badgers to clinch the victory with two more runs
scored by Farrens and L. Taggart, with an RBI
going to Jordan Porter. The final score was 5-4
Badgers, giving them their first league win and
the Spartans, at the top of the Intermountain
League, their first league loss of the season.
Chelsea Taggart earned nine
strikeouts, while Porter went 3 for 4 and L.
Taggart went 2 for 4 at the plate.
On Saturday, the St. Maries
Lumberjacks, ranked second in league, traveled
to Bonners for an unusual triple-header.
The first game saw the
Badgers jump out 2-0 by the second inning,
stemming from a slew of singles from Porter, L.
Taggart, Bertling and Farrens.
By the fourth inning, St.
Maries battled back to even the score at 2-2.
Each team rallied to bring
in one more run, and with a tie score at the end
of the seventh, the extra innings rule came into
effect.
Both teams started the
eighth inning with a runner on second base.
The Badgers began with two
base hits from Bertling and Tessa Payne to drive
in the first run, and then a sacrifice from Sam
Robertson allowed Payne to score, resulting in a
5-3 lead.
The defense held the Lumberjacks runner
at second for the entire inning, giving the
Badgers their second conference victory.
C. Taggart earned the “W”
at the mound, with Porter, Bertling, Payne and
Farrens going 2 for 4 at the plate.
The second game was a
complete turn around, as all three pitchers,
Porter, Taggart and Makenzie Carle made a
showing at the mound.
The Lumberjacks hit their
stride with eleven hits in just five innings.
Four girls from St. Maries went 2 for 4.
The Badgers were unable to get the bats going,
which led to a 0-10 final score.
The third game started well
for St. Maries.
They jumped ahead with a
5-0 lead by the fifth inning. The Badgers
rallied to score Wasmer in the fifth after her
double and a single from Farrens.
In the sixth, Carle pounded a lead-off
double. Up next, Porter switched places with her
on another double.
C. Taggart added a single, but the effort
was too little, too late for the Badgers as the
game ended 8-2.
Carle and C. Taggart both
worked the mound in the loss, and Carle and
Porter went 2 for 3 at the plate.
C. Taggart threw a total of 253 pitches
on the day, which is quite a feat.
“Even though all of
Saturday's games didn't go the way we
anticipated,” said assistant coach Wendy
Bertling, “the girls are working hard and we
are looking forward to the next two weeks going
into Districts.”
The Badgers' final home
game and Senior Night will be at 4 p.m. Thursday, April 28.
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