Trotters softball gets ready for Divisionals
The Plains-Hot Springs softball team has set themselves up to be one of the four teams in the softball Class B-C Divisionals that will be punching their ticket to the State tournament.
Trotters head skipper Michelle Bangen knows there is still a lot of softball to play as her team will enter the Divisional Tournament Friday and Saturday at Florence High School as the No. 1 seed out of the north.
Perhaps more important than securing the No. 1 seed is that they are in opposite ends of the bracket of the two of the top-rated teams in Class B-C: Florence and Mission-Arlee-Charlo.
Bangen emphasized the importance of her team capturing the No. 1 overall seed.
“It’s very big to go in as the No 1 overall seed and be opposite of Florence and M-A-C, but we want to work hard in order to stay there,” Bangen said. “It’s a huge confidence builder (for us) knowing that every team we’ve faced at Divisionals we’ve beat except for Florence. Our team is pretty high on themselves and they’ve overcome a lot to try to make this happen.”
As of press time, the Trotters won’t know who they are facing but do know it is the fourth seed out of the south, which means they will play the winners of the Deer Lodge-Manhattan Christian game.
Plains-Hot Springs is essentially two victories away from being one of the four teams that will qualify for State, but they know they still have a lot to work on moving forward. Last year, the team fell within two runs of qualifying for State in their one-run, 11-10 loss at Divisionals at the hands of Loyola.
“Our motto is to take it one game at a time,” Bangen said. “I think our team will stay focused and they are going to be fine.”
If Bangen’s team qualifies for State, she has to be excited about what the future holds for her Trotter’s team. Plains-Hot Springs will lose only two of their starting seniors Jess Thompson and Stacy Gray.
“I am very excited about what the future holds,” Bangen said. “We are young and the next three years should be amazing. We have an awesome feeder program and we should be able to keep it going.”
Two of their starting pitchers, Kassidy Kenzi and Jessica Thompson, have played crucial roles in the team’s success, but the biggest change between this year’s and last year’s team has been the play of their defense, according to Bangen.
The Plains-Hot Springs team has demonstrated its resilience as they overcame a 14-error performance at Loyola to win 15-13. The improvements the team has made defensively is what Bangen said she is “excited about.”
“We have a very young defense and last Thursday we overcame 14-errors in extra innings,” Bangen said. “The kids just never gave up. They kept fighting and fighting and came out with the win. Bigger teams learn how to win and not give up. That is the biggest change from last year.”