Trotters win Mission softball championship

Matt Unrau

Valley Press

The Trotters softball team are the Mission Valley Softball Association Champions! After winning three games in two days the Trotters stand alone in the mission valley as champions.

“We were pretty excited, because we’re not sure if Plains had won a big championship in softball before,” said Head Coach Richard Kinzie. “These girls have put in a lot of hard work the last four or five years.”

Winning pitcher of the Championship game, Aspen Rude, echoes the sentiments of Coach Kinzie. “We were just excited when we won. We were all really happy.”

The final game turned out to be more of a dismantling of the opponent than anything else as Rude pitched brilliantly recording 11 of the first 12 outs by strikeouts and only walking two batters.

It was more than enough for Rude’s 55 M.P.H. drop ball and devastating change up as she led her team to a 10-3 victory over the Ronan Lady Rebels.

 Offensively, the Trotters put the game away in the fourth inning scoring seven runs from four hits. It was a group effort as five of the Trotters registered a hit in the game.

It was sweet redemption for Rude as it was the second year in a row that she took the spot in the loneliest part of the softball diamond, the mound at the championship game. Last year the Trotters lost the Championship to Polson, but this year Rude was able to exercise the demons and bring a trophy home to Plains.

The 14 and under Softball team reached the promised land in Coach Kinzie and Assistant Coach Tonya Revier’s second year at the helm of the team.

Coach Kinzie had big expectations going into the game as the Trotters held the number two ranking in the league going into the tournament and the number one and three ranked teams from Polson both didn’t attend the league’s championship tournament.

The closest call in the tournament actually came in the semi-final afternoon game against the Mission Bulldogs.

The Trotters playing as the home team went into the bottom of the sixth inning tied with Mission at seven.

It looked like the whole affair would have to be settled in extra innings as the first two batters for Plains both grounded out.

However, the batting order turned over and the first two batters Hailey Phillips and Sami Kinzie fought out walks in their at bats. With the two batters on base Coach Kinzie sent both of them on a double steal.

The scene was then set for the Trotters power hitter, Alex Green to be the heroine. With two on and two out Green tore a 1-1 pitch into the outfield for a 2-run walk off triple and a trip to the Championship game.

“Alex had the biggest hits in the three games for us,” says Coach Kinzie. “They were big shots when we needed them.”

It was the second triple of the game for Green who along with Tia Thompson led the Trotters offensively. Both girls had two hits for the game.

The first game of the tournament took place on Friday night where the Trotters beat the Thompson Falls Lady Hawks 18-13 in an offensive showdown.

The Trotters hammered out 17 hits in the game. Sami Kinzie had a big night going three-for-four including two singles in a seven-run first inning. Green also went three-for-four falling a home run shy of a cycle. Alyssa Foster and Daizey McBee also had three hits during the game.

The Trotters had a lot of experience this year. They will lose some of this experience next year as the  team loses five eighth graders to the high school ranks next year. The Trotters finished the season 13-6 over the season including the three wins in the tournament.