All-stars clinch nail-biter

The Clark Fork Valley All-stars added a win to their column on July 2 with a come-from-behind victory won off the momentum they acquired in the third inning.

The Clark Fork Valley All-stars defeated St. Ignatius 6-5 after being down 0-3 after the first inning.

“We got off to a slow start,” Clark Fork Valley All-stars Coach Bob Paro said. “Normally we hit the ball really well, but we just got off a little rough and then made up for it in the third inning.”

While the victory was certainly a team effort with important plays made in the outfield and at bat, Paro said that there were three players who really had a good night. Paro said that his son Trevor, of Hot Springs, had a couple of big hits that really helped to turn the momentum to the Clark Fork Valley All-stars. He also said that Ryan Ovitt and Bransen Krebes, both of Plains, also had a couple of good hits.

The Clark Fork Valley All-stars have had a strong season thus far, even before the win on Wednesday. They finished second in a tournament in Columbia Falls and third in a tournament in Florence in the weeks leading up to last week’s victory. All of this is leading up for the state tournament, which takes place over the course of this weekend.

Monday night the All-stars had one last round-robin type game, which means every team plays every other team an equal number of times. The teams that participated Monday were the Clark Fork Valley All-stars, Polson, Ronan and St. Ignatius.

The state tournament begins tonight with the Clark Fork Valley All-stars taking on Ronan at 6 p.m. at the softball complex in Polson. The All-stars will then take on Darby Thursday at 12:45 p.m. and then Hamilton at 3:30 p.m. on Friday. How they do over the course of these three days will determine whether or not they make it to the semi-finals on Saturday and then the championship game on Sunday.

Although they’ll be facing some tough competition Paro believes his team has it in them to win. “I think we’re probably one of the top teams,” he said.

Paro anticipates the team doing well and wants to encourage everyone to come out and support the All-stars.

“We could really use the support and the games are a lot of fun to watch,” he said.

In addition to Paro, the Clark Fork Valley All-stars are coached by Todd Johannsen and Jammin Krebes, both of Plains.

The team is made up of Cory Tessier, of Noxon, Orion Burrell, of Plains, Brady Johannsen, of Plains, Joe Fields, of Thompson Falls, Kyle Milner, of Thompson Falls, Brenan Abromite, of Plains, Trace Tammaro, of Noxon, and Zach Osborne, of Noxon.

If the state championship games are anything like the game last Wednesday it should be exciting and possibly even nail biting at times, but it will definitely be a good time, Paro said.