Scotties Finish Fourth In Eastern B-C Divisionals

It wasn't exactly the home-field advantage Glasgow softball was hoping for.

Hosting the Eastern B-C Divisional Tournament this past weekend as the No. 2 seed, Glasgow looked ready to head into the championship round with a possible rematch against No. 1 Huntley Project.

Those plans were derailed however as Glasgow was eliminated from play on the second day of the tournament, losing to Conrad 4-3 in eight innings.

Needing to win two more games just to make it back to the championship game, the Scotties squared off against Conrad in the consolation bracket where the winner would go home.

Glasgow got on the scoreboard first in the top of the third inning to take a 2-0 lead. It didn't take long for Conrad to answer back as they put a run of their own on the board in the bottom of the fourth to cut the deficit to 2-1.

The score remained that way until the bottom of the seventh. Fielding efficiency has been the achilles heel of the Scotties all year and the problem reared its ugly head once more at the most inopportune time.

Glasgow committed two errors in the bottom of the seventh inning to allow Conrad to tie the game up at three and send it to extras.

The Scotties scored quickly in the top of the eighth to regain the lead and restore the energy in the home crowd that had been deflated after the tying run scored the previous half inning.

Heading into the bottom of the eight for Conrad, Glasgow was once again trying to close the door and keep their postseason alive at least one more game.

Conrad refused to make it easy for Glasgow as they put runners on again in the bottom half of the inning. Trailing by one run and with two runners on, Conrad's pitcher Tristen Achenbach stepped to the plate in hopes of eliminating Glasgow while sending Conrad on to the next game.

Achenbach connected enough on a pitch from Glasgow's Tyra Johnson to send a bloop down the right field line. Scotties right fielder, Khloe Krumwiede flew in from her position in right and made a diving attempt two corral the ball and send the game to the ninth.

Krumwiede just missed making a spectacular play as the ball hit the ground before she could catch it. The hit sent the Conrad bench and crowd into a frenzy as they met at home plate to celebrate the win.

The other side of the field was extremely quite, not because of the way Glasgow had lost a hard-fought game, but because Krumwiede, a freshman, was writhing in pain on the ground.

Krumwiede's parents, teammates and her head coach rushed over to her aid and quickly learned that while making the dive, Krumwiede suffered an injury to her leg.

"From what I've heard, she suffered a serious leg injury and will need several months to recover from it," said Glasgow Head Coach Mark Falcon.

While Krumwiede's right leg was being attended to, Falcon said the injury itself, as painful as it was, was the furthest thing from her mind.

"The first thing she asked when we reached her was, 'did they score?'" Falcon said. "We told her they did and then she was more upset because she was to lead-off next inning [if the game continued on]."

Falcon, who was seen wiping tears from his eyes after Krumwiede was loaded into a truck and taken off the field said that he wouldn't expect anything else from his right fielder but trying to make that play.

"Khloe is going to be one of the girls that runs 120 percent on everything," Falcon said. "The last few steps she reached out for it and her knee buckled on her."

The Scotties took fourth in the B-C Divisionals and advanced to the State Tournament in Great Falls that runs this Thursday-Saturday.

Glasgow (16-5) will face Ronan (17-4) in the first round of the tournament in Great Falls on Thursday at 1:30 p.m.

Next Tuesday, June 3, Glasgow softball will have an awards banquet at 6 p.m. at Glasgow High School.