Girls drop games to St. Maries, Spartans

Saturday the St. Maries Lumberjacks traveled to Bonners for an unusual triple header game. 

The first game saw the Badgers jump out ahead 2-0 by the second inning stemming from a slew of singles from Jordan Porter, Lindsay Taggart, Mattea Bertling and Becca Farrens.

By the fourth inning, St. Maries battled back to even the score at 2-2.  Each team rallied to bring in one more run and with a tie score at the end of the seventh, the extra innings rule came into effect. 

Both teams start the eighth inning with a runner on second base. The Badgers began with two base hits from Mattea Bertling and Tessa Payne to drive in the first run, and then a sacrifice from Sam Robertson allowed Payne to score, resulting in a 5-3 lead. 

The defense held the Lumberjacks runner at second for the entire inning, giving the Badgers their second conference victory. Chelsea Taggart earned the “W” at the mound with Porter, Bertling, Payne and Farrens going two for four at the plate.

The second game was a complete turn around as all three pitchers, Porter, ChelseaTaggart and McKenzie Carle, made a showing at the mound.  The Lumberjacks hit their stride with eleven hits in just five innings. Four girls from St. Maries went two for four. The Badgers were unable to get the bats going which lead to a 0-10 final score. 

The third game started well for St. Maries. They jumped ahead with a 5-0 lead by the fifth inning. The Badgers rallied to score Aubree Wasmer in the fith after her double and a single from Farrens. In the sixth Carle pounded a lead-off double.  Up next, Porter switched places with her on another double. 

Chelsea Taggart added a single but the effort was too little, too late for the Badgers as the game ended 8-2.  Carle and Chelsea Taggart both worked the mound in the loss, and Carle and Porter went two for three at the plate. Chelsea Taggart pitched a total of 253 pitches on the day which is quite a feat. 

Tuesday, April 19, the  Bonners Ferry High School Softball team hosted conference opponent Priest River.  The Spartans jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning, adding two more runs in the third inning creating a 4-0 deficit for the Badgers. 

In the bottom of the fourth, Mattea Bertling began the comeback with a hard hit double. Farrens followed getting on base from an error and Lindsay Taggart's single drove in Bertling for the first run of the day, making it 4-1 Spartans. 

The bottom of the fifth produced two more runs as a result of a walk by Chelsea Taggart, and a double from  Wasmer.  Aaramie Hoisington stepped in to get a timely walk which allowed Wasmer to score.  The sixth inning was enough for the Badgers to clinch the victory with two more runs scored by Farrens and Lindsay Taggart with an RBI going to  Porter.  The final score was 5-4 Badgers, giving them their first league win. Chelsea Taggart earned nine strikeouts while Porter went three for four and Lindsay Taggart went two for four at the plate.

“Even though all of Saturday's games didn't go the way we anticipated, the girls are working hard and we are looking forward to the next two weeks going into districts,” said assistant coach Wendy Bertling. 

The Badgers final home game and senior night will be at 4 p.m. today.