BELGRADE — The Class A state softball tournament got through four full games on Thursday. Then a big thunderstorm hit the Gallatin Valley, forcing a delay that will last until Friday morning.
The Belgrade Softball Complex fields were deemed unplayable for the rest of Thursday, according to Livingston athletic director Nate Parseghian. Puddles dotted the each of the infields after a storm filled with lightning, hail and heavy rain that lasted more than an hour. Play will resume at 9 a.m. Friday, per the Montana High School Association.
The delay began during the first two games of the second round. Third-seeded Laurel holds a 6-2 lead over second-seeded Polson in the fifth inning, while fourth-seeded Libby leads top-seeded Havre 2-0 in the second.
In the first round, defending State A champion and No. 3 seed Frenchtown cruised past No. 6 seed Livingston 11-1, while Laurel beat sixth-seeded Corvallis 9-3, Libby held off fifth-seeded Lewistown 8-6 and fifth-seeded Hamilton edged fourth-seeded Hardin 7-5.
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Frenchtown 11, Livingston 1 (5 innings)
An eight-run second inning turned a 1-0 deficit into a demanding lead for the Broncs (20-3), who scored twice in the fourth and once in the fifth to run-rule the Rangers (14-11).
Frenchtown's Dakota Fortney finished 2 for 3 with a double, an RBI and two runs scored, and Olivia Campbell was 2 for 3 with two runs.
The win set up a 2022 state championship rematch between the Broncs and Billings Central in the second round scheduled for Friday.
Livingston will face Laurel or Polson in a loser-out game Friday.
Laurel 9, Corvallis 3 (6 innings)
Both teams scored one run in each of the first two innings, and Laurel (13-5) took a 3-2 lead into the fifth. The Locomotives scored four runs that inning and were up 7-3 going into the sixth, when they scored two more times.
Laurel's Mia Andersen went 3 for 4 with a home run and a double, and Emerson Gunther went 2 for 4 with three runs scored.
Corvallis (10-13) will play a loser-out game Friday against Billings Central or Frenchtown.
Libby 8, Lewistown 6
The Loggers (14-11) took leads of 2-0 after one inning, 5-1 through three and 8-4 through four. The Golden Eagles (13-10) plated two in the seventh but couldn't complete the comeback.
Libby's Mackenzie Foss went 3 for 4 with two home runs, three RBIs and three runs scored, Paislee MacDonald was 3 for 5 with a home run and a double, and Peyton Waggoner was 2 for 3 with a triple.
Lewistown will face Columbia Falls or Hamilton in a loser-out game Friday.
Hamilton 7, Hardin 5
A three-run seventh inning broke a 4-4 tie and lifted the Broncs (17-8) to a first-round win over the Bulldogs (12-8).
Stats for the game were unavailable.
Email Victor Flores at victor.flores@406mtsports.com and follow him on Twitter at @VictorFlores406
In this Series
2023 State Softball Tournaments
Victor Flores
Victor Flores is the Montana State Bobcats beat writer for 406mtsports.com. Flores graduated from the University of Oregon in 2014 with a BA in journalism, and he was hired by the (Idaho Falls) Post Register as a sports reporter in the fall of that year. He also covered sports — mainly high school — at the (Twin Falls, Idaho) Times-News and the Billings Gazette before moving to Bozeman in the spring of 2021.
