The Bette Paskey Memorial softball tournament got rolling on Friday afternoon with the Havre Blue Ponies in town to face Polson and Frenchtown. Havre got run-ruled in five innings by the Broncs, (11-1) and got walked off by the Pirates, (6-5).
The first outing on the field was one to forget as Frenchtown jumped on Havre for four runs in the first inning and two runs in the second inning. Broncs pitching kept the Ponies off the board until the third inning as Camille Keeley recorded an RBI single to score Bree Hanson. Frenchtown answered with four more runs in the bottom of the inning before getting the run to enact the mercy rule in the fifth. Uncharacteristically, Havre made six errors in the ballgame.
Game two was entertaining from the jump. Zeroes were put up for the first two innings before the Ponies got five runs in the third. Back-to-back home runs from Keeley (her third of the season) and Rachel Jette (her team-leading fourth home run of the year) were the jumpstarts and Kamree Oliver knocked out a two-run shot, her first of the season.
Polson got one back in the bottom half of the inning and then got a home run of their own in the fifth. The comeback took shape in the sixth inning as the Pirates scored four in the final frame, including the game-winning hit. Jette was the hard-luck loser in this one, but did manage six strikeouts in the circle.
Havre’s (6-5) Bette Paskey Memorial games continue Saturday, facing Corvallis at 11:15am followed by Hamilton at 3:30pm.
