Scottie Softball Picks up Two Conference Wins

"It couldn't have gone any better." Coach Ryan Hartwell was pretty happy with his Glasgow softball team after they picked up two solid conference wins and went up against two Class A schools at the Lewistown Invitational this past weekend. Even though the team dropped their games against Laurel and Park, the Scotties coach said his team played well. "We left runners in scoring positions," he said of his girls' efforts.

Hartwell noted his team's improvement from their first venture out – noting his pitchers had made huge gains. "Brielle Partridge and Daley Aune both pitched a whole game for us," he told the Courier. "That's a huge, huge step for us."With three of his four missing players back on the bench, Hartwell fielded nearly his full roster in Lewistown.

In Lewistown the Scotties stuck to their game plan of "small ball" - stealing and bunting. The plan worked well for Glasgow, who defeated Shepherd 22 to 17 and beat Colstrip 19 to 14. "And Davyn Myrick got hot, she caught on fire," said Hartwell. The senior drove in six runs against Shepherd, including a grand slam, and had four hits in four at bats against Colstrip. The Scottie defense played well also, according to Hartwell.

Glasgow started off the tournament against Shepherd and took a 4-3 lead at the end of the first inning, A strong second inning saw the Scotties send six more runners over home plate while the defense held Shepherd to four answering runs. Shepherd rallied in the bottom of the third, scoring three times to tie the score at 11.

The fourth inning produced goose eggs for both teams while the teams matched evenly in the fifth with a run each. Glasgow put up four more runs in the sixth, but Shepherd met the challenge and kept the score tied at 16. The Scotties used the top of the seventh to rally. Glasgow scored six times in the final inning, including Myrick's grand slam. The defense took control of the field and held Shepherd to a single run in the bottom, giving the Scotties the 22 to 17 victory.

Myrick led the team in RBIs with 6. Partridge recorded 4 and Aune added 3. Nyquist and Partridge had 3 hits each while Alexys Mann, Aune and Myrick recorded 2 each. Ashley Meland earned 6 runs. Mann, Aune and Myrick added 3 runs each.

Meland started the game on the pitcher's mound, surrendering 11 runs on nine hits over three innings. Aune was credited with the victory, allowing seven hits and six runs, while striking out three. Meland threw a 51.5 strike percentage while Aune's strike percentage was 52.7.

Friday evening the Scotties were back on the field, this time against Laurel. Laurel started the game with a 2-0 lead after the first inning, but really took control of the game in the third, when they sent seven runners over home plate. The final run came in the bottom of the fourth, when Laurel scored their tenth run, while keeping Glasgow off the scoreboard.

Aune registered the only hit for the Scotties in the game. Partridge pitched the five innings for Glasgow, allowing 10 runs and 14 hits, while throwing a 65.1 strike percentage.

Saturday morning, the Scotties snagged their second conference win of the tournament and the season. Glasgow took a 5 to 3 lead after the first inning and held the lead for the remainder of the game. They outscored Colstrip 2-1 in the second inning and allowed their foes two runs in the top of the third. Glasgow made up for it in the fourth inning, preventing Colstrip from scoring, while sending two more Scottie runners home.

Glasgow outscored Colstrip by two runs in each the fifth and sixth innings, 6-4 and 4-2 respectively. Colstrip put up only two runs in the top of the seventh, negating the need for Glasgow to step to the plate in the final inning, with a Glasgow lead of 19 to 14.

Carly Nelson led the Scotties in hits with 5, followed by Meland and Myrick with 4 each. Aune scored 5 runs for Glasgow followed by Myrick with 4 and Mann with 3. Myrick racked up 6 RBIs and Nelson had 3. Aune pitched the full game for Glasgow, allowing 14 runs and 18 hits. She threw a 67.2 strike percentage.

Glasgow hit the wall in their fourth and final game of the tournament, falling to Park 14 to 3 after two and a half innings. Park took a 2 to 0 lead at the end of the first and held Glasgow to a single run in the second while racking up 12 runs in the bottom of the inning. The Scotties scored twice in the top of the third, but it was not enough to keep the game going.

Over three innings, Glasgow managed 5 hits. Those came from Aune, Meland, Myrick, Alexis Murdock and Elizabeth Nyquist. Runs were scored by Aune, Meland and Myrick. Partridge as pitcher allowed 10 hits and 14 runs. She threw a strike percentage of 59.0.

The Scottie softball game against Glendive on April 13 against Glendive was canceled due to weather and rescheduled for Monday, April 19 at 5 p.m. The team will be in Sidney on Friday, April 16 to take on the Eagles at 5 p.m.