Thompson, Gray receive post-season softball honors

Mission Valley area teams reaped ten players acknowledged with postseason all-conference recognition that included a trio of all-state honors.

A trio of Lady Bulldog players were conferred with postseason honors from State B-C third place finisher Mission-Arlee-Charlo (21-7-1). Senior pitcher Ran’Dee Charlo received All-State as well as first-team recognition for her 19 win season on the mound as well as for the bludgeon of her bat at the plate, which stroked *three dozen hits that included 16 for extra bases while leading the team with *29RBIs. The pitching prowess of Charlo factored into the outcome of all but two contests this season. Fellow senior teammate catcher Kenzie Couture and sophomore pitcher/outfielder Tomi Brazill were honored with second-team acknowledgement for their contributions to their team’s 21 victory season. Couture had *33 hits this season, a dozen for extra bases, while generating *23RBIs. Brazill turned in another *26 hits for the Lady Bulldog offense as well as threw dozens of innings from the mound. Both Charlo and Couture were named to the all-tournament team as well.

Six Lady Pirates get honors

A half dozen Lady Pirates were accentuated for their athletic aptitude with accolade acknowledgement from State A fourth place finisher Polson (18-10). Both leadoff batter Kaelyn Smith and followup speedster Laurel Bitterman repeated as all-staters along with concurrent first-team recognition. Smith led the team in three categories this season: batting average (.541AVG), runs scored (43R) and stolen bases (50SB), eclipsing last year’s single season then record breaking 41. Smith was also named to the State A all-tournament team. Bitterman racked up second highest numbers on the team for hits (46H), runs scored as well as stolen bases (25SB).

Receiving first team recognition was senior pitcher Haley Fyant (124K), who led the team in RBIs (32) as well as had the third highest batting average (.494AVG) and the second most hits for extra bases (15xbH). Fyant would have been conferred with conference bonus all-state recognition had Polson succeeded in advancing into the hardware rounds.

A trio of senior Lady Pirates receiving second team recognition include infielders Camas Renault along with Hannah Fryberger and catcher Ashley Benson. Renault had the second highest batting average among the team (.524AVG) as well as provided supplemental relief as part of the pitching rotation. Fryberger led the team in extra base hits (17xbH) that included a trio of home runs, had the third leading number of hits (41H) and generated the second most RBIs (30) on the team behind Fyant. Middle of the order batter Benson had the third highest number of RBIs (23) and fifth highest number of hits among the team with 39.

Rounding out the recognition is Ronan (4-20), which placed junior infielder Courtnee Clairmont on the second team list. Clairmont was one of the leading hitters among the Maidens as well as anchored the infield with her glove work.

Asterisk(*) denotes stats derived from media coverage that may differ from M-A-C team scorebook. Slight variations in stat specs may occur on account of differences in assessment criteria between away venue evaluations and home book.

ALL-STATE

NWA – Kaelyn Smith, Polson; Laurel Bitterman, Polson; Brynn Leishman, Frenchtown; Meg Delaney, Frenchtown; K.J. Schweikert, C.Falls; Peyton Kehr, C.Falls; Morgan Snow, Frenchtown; Sydney Hovde, C.Falls; Allie Hochhalter, Frenchtown.

SWA – Kloie Thatcher, Butte Central; Rachael Ringer, Hamilton; Rachel Richardson, Hamilton; Taylor Wahl, Butte Central; Caitlin Dillon, Hamilton; Haley Kampka, Stevensville; Mikayla Newman, Stevensville; Mollie Peoples, Butte Central.

Western BC – Brianna Hoffman, Florence; Chloe Arthur, Florence; Madisen Monigold, Libby; Hannah Schaefer, Anaconda; Ran’Dee Charlo, Mission-Arlee-Charlo; Kayla Hickethier, Loyola; Michaela Cortright, Anaconda; Khalyn Hageness, Libby.

ALL-CONFERENCE

1st-Team Northwest A

Kaelyn Smith, jr. (if), Polson; Laurel Bitterman, jr. (of), Polson; Brynn Leishman, jr. (p/if), Frenchtown; Meg Delaney, jr. (if/p), Frenchtown; K.J. Schweikert, sr. (p), C.Falls; Peyton Kehr, sr. (of), C.Falls; Morgan Snow, jr. (of), Frenchtown; Sydney Hovde, sr. (if), C.Falls; Allie Hochhalter, sr. (c), Frenchtown; Haley Fyant, sr. (p), Polson.

2nd-Team Northwest A

Hannah Fryberger, sr. (if), Polson; Ashley Benson, sr. (c), Polson; Camas Renault, sr. (if/p), Polson; Jordan Cole, sr. (if), Frenchtown; Carley Thompson, sr. (of), Frenchtown; Calli Bagnell, jr. (if), Frenchtown; Trista Cowan, so. (if), C.Falls; Hannah Freeman, sr. (c), C.Falls; Taylar Putnam, sr. (if), C.Falls; Baileigh Krause, jr. (ut), Whitefish.

1st-Team Western B-C

Brianna Hoffman, jr (p/if), Florence

Chloe Arthur sr (if/c), Florence

Madisen Monigold, sr. (if), Libby

Hannah Schaefer, sr. (c ), Anaconda

Ran’Dee Charlo, sr. (p), M-A-C

Kayla Hickethier, so. (p), Loyola

Michaela Cortright, sr. (p), Anaconda

Khalyn Hageness, jr. (p), Libby

Jessica Thompson, jr. (p/if), Pla-HS

Natalie Dulac, so. (c/if), Florence

Shannon Byrne, so. (if/p), Florence

2nd-Team Western B-C

Kenzie Couture, sr. (c ), M-A-C

Jayden Winslow, so. (if/of), Libby

Avory Escobar, fr. (p/if) Eureka

Carly Tipp, so. (c ), Loyola

Shay Waldbillig, jr (p/), Florence

Erin Chapman, so. (of), Anaconda

Tomi Brazill, so. (of/p), M-A-C

Sydnie Peterson, jr. (if), Anaconda

Rylee Morgan, jr. (of), Eureka

Courtnee Clairmont, jr. (if) Ronan

Natalie Goodman, jr. (if), Loyola

Stacy Gray, jr. (if), Pla-HS

2017 STATE A ALL-TOURNAMENT

Ty Atwood, of (jr.), Belgrade

Kalista Pachl if (sr.), Belgrade

Shania Neubauer, p/if/of, (sr.), Belgrade

Erin Elgas if/of/p (so.), Belgrade

Megan Delaney, if (jr.), Frenchtown

Carley Thompson, of (sr.), Frenchtown

Brynn Leishman, p (jr.), Frenchtown

Tessa Della Silva, of (jr.), Hamilton

Rachel Richardson, if (sr.), Hamilton

Kaelyn Smith, if (jr.), Polson

Honorable Mention

Haylee Curry, c/of (so.), Belgrade

Olivia Cook, if (so.), Belgrade

Presley Jacobson, of (jr.), Belgrade

Haley Fyant, p/if (sr.), Polson

2017 STATE B-C ALL-TOURNAMENT

Brianna Hoffman, Florence

Natalie Dulac, Florence

Chloe Arthur, Florence

Shannon Byrne, Florence

Haylee Cannon, Libby

Madisen Monigold, Libby

Khalyn Hageness, Libby

Ran’Dee Charlo, Mission-Arlee-Charlo

Kenzie Couture, Mission-Arlee-Charlo

Tyra Johnson, Glasgow