Friday, March 19
Missoula, Mont.
1 PM
Montana
6-15
7
vs
6
Seattle
13-14
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Seattle
1
0
2
0
1
0
2
6
11
1
Montana
4
0
0
2
0
0
1
7
12
0
Photo by: Derek Johnson
Griz win on Weisgram’s walk-off
3/19/2021 6:10:00 PM | Softball
The Montana softball team, on Brooklyn Weisgram's walk-off single in the bottom of the seventh, defeated Seattle 7-6 on Friday afternoon at Grizzly Softball Field in Missoula.
And then the tears started flowing.
To an outsider, they would have appeared to be tears springing forth from the joys of victory, from a game Montana led 4-1 after a Kendall Curtis grand slam in the first to a game the Grizzlies had to win in dramatic fashion after the Redhawks battled back to tie it with two runs in the top of the seventh.
But they knew, the players on the field, her teammates who had witnessed firsthand the long journey Weisgram had undergone just to get to that moment, finally healthy enough to enter the game in the top of the sixth as a defensive replacement, healthy enough to win it with her bat in the seventh.
Weisgram, from Missoula, was an integral part of the team as soon as she became a Grizzly, batting .293 as a freshman and making one of the outfield spots her own. Until she wasn't, at least on the field. While her injury did not remove her from the team, it changed her role. She watched, they competed.
On Friday, a triumphant return. Sometimes a line-drive single down the right-field line just means a little more.
"It was pretty emotional for me to be able to come through like that after such a long recovery process," she said. "(Assistant coach Sarah O'Brien) came up to me after and gave me a hug. A couple tears ran down my face.
"I've busted my butt all offseason to come back from a serious injury. It feels like the hard work is finally paying off."
Her hit made a winner of Montana a day after the Redhawks opened the three-game series with a doubleheader sweep, with 3-2 and 5-2 victories.
It was Montana on the field on Thursday but it wasn't quite Griz Softball as we've come to know it.
It was a combination of factors. Being back home for the first time since April 27, 2019. Having five wins through 18 games this season. Trying to do it for a fan base that stuck with the program through a pandemic.
"We were pressing yesterday. One, we were excited to be at home and then hungry for some outcomes. We were carrying a little too much weight on our shoulders instead of just releasing it and playing and settling in to who we are," said coach Melanie Meuchel.
With that day out of their system, the Grizzlies looked more like themselves on Friday, from the moment Tristin Achenbach struck out the first hitter of the game.
It was at the plate where Montana showed what it can do without all that weight holding it down.
Kylie Becker led off the bottom of the first with a single, Cami Sellers doubled to right-center and Maygen McGrath got hit by a pitch to load the bases for Curtis.
The player with one career home run before Friday attacked the first pitch with an uppercut swing, like she knew it was only a matter of time, a matter of seeing the right ball. The first one cleared the fence but was foul.
On a 1-2 pitch, she sent the ball out of the park in left.
"Home run was not on my mind," she said, though her cuts suggested otherwise. "I knew I needed to score someone. I was just being in the moment. I happened to score all three of them. And myself."
Before Seattle had recorded an out, Montana had matched its run production from 14 innings of at-bats on Thursday and surpassed its number of extra-base hits.
The Grizzlies, who threw two players out at the plate, one coming from the arm of Jaxie Klucewich in left, the other from Sellers at first, had come to play.
"We saw that early. I felt that from the beginning, watching it in their eyes, in their body language. I felt like we were settled into the game," said Meuchel.
But Seattle is good. Really good. The Redhawks were 8-0 against Big Sky Conference teams after Thursday's two-game sweep.
Not only are they good, they are relentless, fully taking on the personality of their coach, Geoff Hirai, who has an unwavering belief in his players. And they exude it.
Seattle pulled within 4-3 in the top of the third, Montana went up 6-3 in the bottom of the fourth on a McGrath single to right that scored two.
The Redhawks made it 6-4 with a sacrifice fly in the fifth, 6-5 with an RBI ground out in the seventh. That left a runner on third with two outs and a full count for Olivia Viggiano, who came through with a single to left-center that brought Seattle even.
That set the stage for Weisgram's heroics, which became possible only after Elise Ontiveros opened the bottom of the seventh with a sharply hit single to left, her second hit of the day.
Julie Phelps moved Ontiveros into scoring position with a well-placed ground out to the right side of the infield. That brought Weisgram to the plate. Her drive to right on a 1-2 pitch set the winning play in motion. Ontiveros raced home from second to score the winning run.
What was Weisgram's mindset as she stepped into the box? "Just to compete," she says. "I was thinking base hit, get a line drive, do my part for the team."
All victories are sweet. How they come about and the players that come through and the backstories they carry are what make some just a little sweeter than others.
Prior to the game-winning hit, Weisgram had had just nine at-bats this season, just one hit.
"It reassures her that all the work she's put in to get back from her injury is so worth it," said Meuchel. "I'm really happy for her and for our team.
"I'm really proud of her. She looked so determined and so settled. I'm happy to see her have the joy of having the big hit and listening to the crowd cheer for her and her teammates."
The walk-off hit made a winner of Achenbach, who threw 143 pitches to pick up her fifth victory of the season.
Becker, McGrath and Ontiveros all had two hits as Montana won at home not just for the first time this season but for the first time since April 27, 2019.
The Grizzlies (6-15) will open a three-game series against Utah Valley (8-11) with a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m. on Saturday. The teams will play for a third time at noon on Sunday.
And then the tears started flowing.
To an outsider, they would have appeared to be tears springing forth from the joys of victory, from a game Montana led 4-1 after a Kendall Curtis grand slam in the first to a game the Grizzlies had to win in dramatic fashion after the Redhawks battled back to tie it with two runs in the top of the seventh.
But they knew, the players on the field, her teammates who had witnessed firsthand the long journey Weisgram had undergone just to get to that moment, finally healthy enough to enter the game in the top of the sixth as a defensive replacement, healthy enough to win it with her bat in the seventh.
Weisgram, from Missoula, was an integral part of the team as soon as she became a Grizzly, batting .293 as a freshman and making one of the outfield spots her own. Until she wasn't, at least on the field. While her injury did not remove her from the team, it changed her role. She watched, they competed.
On Friday, a triumphant return. Sometimes a line-drive single down the right-field line just means a little more.
"It was pretty emotional for me to be able to come through like that after such a long recovery process," she said. "(Assistant coach Sarah O'Brien) came up to me after and gave me a hug. A couple tears ran down my face.
"I've busted my butt all offseason to come back from a serious injury. It feels like the hard work is finally paying off."
Her hit made a winner of Montana a day after the Redhawks opened the three-game series with a doubleheader sweep, with 3-2 and 5-2 victories.
It was Montana on the field on Thursday but it wasn't quite Griz Softball as we've come to know it.
It was a combination of factors. Being back home for the first time since April 27, 2019. Having five wins through 18 games this season. Trying to do it for a fan base that stuck with the program through a pandemic.
"We were pressing yesterday. One, we were excited to be at home and then hungry for some outcomes. We were carrying a little too much weight on our shoulders instead of just releasing it and playing and settling in to who we are," said coach Melanie Meuchel.
With that day out of their system, the Grizzlies looked more like themselves on Friday, from the moment Tristin Achenbach struck out the first hitter of the game.
It was at the plate where Montana showed what it can do without all that weight holding it down.
Kylie Becker led off the bottom of the first with a single, Cami Sellers doubled to right-center and Maygen McGrath got hit by a pitch to load the bases for Curtis.
The player with one career home run before Friday attacked the first pitch with an uppercut swing, like she knew it was only a matter of time, a matter of seeing the right ball. The first one cleared the fence but was foul.
On a 1-2 pitch, she sent the ball out of the park in left.
"Home run was not on my mind," she said, though her cuts suggested otherwise. "I knew I needed to score someone. I was just being in the moment. I happened to score all three of them. And myself."
Before Seattle had recorded an out, Montana had matched its run production from 14 innings of at-bats on Thursday and surpassed its number of extra-base hits.
The Grizzlies, who threw two players out at the plate, one coming from the arm of Jaxie Klucewich in left, the other from Sellers at first, had come to play.
"We saw that early. I felt that from the beginning, watching it in their eyes, in their body language. I felt like we were settled into the game," said Meuchel.
But Seattle is good. Really good. The Redhawks were 8-0 against Big Sky Conference teams after Thursday's two-game sweep.
Not only are they good, they are relentless, fully taking on the personality of their coach, Geoff Hirai, who has an unwavering belief in his players. And they exude it.
Seattle pulled within 4-3 in the top of the third, Montana went up 6-3 in the bottom of the fourth on a McGrath single to right that scored two.
The Redhawks made it 6-4 with a sacrifice fly in the fifth, 6-5 with an RBI ground out in the seventh. That left a runner on third with two outs and a full count for Olivia Viggiano, who came through with a single to left-center that brought Seattle even.
That set the stage for Weisgram's heroics, which became possible only after Elise Ontiveros opened the bottom of the seventh with a sharply hit single to left, her second hit of the day.
Julie Phelps moved Ontiveros into scoring position with a well-placed ground out to the right side of the infield. That brought Weisgram to the plate. Her drive to right on a 1-2 pitch set the winning play in motion. Ontiveros raced home from second to score the winning run.
What was Weisgram's mindset as she stepped into the box? "Just to compete," she says. "I was thinking base hit, get a line drive, do my part for the team."
All victories are sweet. How they come about and the players that come through and the backstories they carry are what make some just a little sweeter than others.
Prior to the game-winning hit, Weisgram had had just nine at-bats this season, just one hit.
"It reassures her that all the work she's put in to get back from her injury is so worth it," said Meuchel. "I'm really happy for her and for our team.
"I'm really proud of her. She looked so determined and so settled. I'm happy to see her have the joy of having the big hit and listening to the crowd cheer for her and her teammates."
The walk-off hit made a winner of Achenbach, who threw 143 pitches to pick up her fifth victory of the season.
Becker, McGrath and Ontiveros all had two hits as Montana won at home not just for the first time this season but for the first time since April 27, 2019.
The Grizzlies (6-15) will open a three-game series against Utah Valley (8-11) with a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m. on Saturday. The teams will play for a third time at noon on Sunday.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Achenbach, Tristin (5-7)
L: Nance, Carley (3-3)
Batting:
2B: Merwin, Stephanie 1 ; Milder, Brooke 1
3B: Choate, Ally 1
RBI: Viggiano, Olivia 1 ; Cathcart, Madison 1 ; Merwin, Stephanie 2 ; Coleman, Kamryn 1 ; Matriotti, Alyson 1
SH: Milder, Brooke 1 ; Matriotti, Alyson 1
SF: Coleman, Kamryn 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Choate, Ally 1 ; Cathcart, Madison 1 ; Thompson, Bailey 1 ; Silvan, Cherise 1 ; Merwin, Stephanie 1 ; Nance, Carley 1
SB: Viggiano, Olivia 1 ; Silvan, Cherise 1
HBP: Cathcart, Madison 1 ; Thompson, Bailey 2
Batting:
2B: Sellers, Cami 1 ; Knauss, Lexi 1 ; Phelps, Julie 1
HR: Curtis, Kendall 1
RBI: McGrath, Maygen 1 ; Curtis, Kendall 4 ; Weisgram, Brooklyn 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Becker, Kylie 1 ; Sellers, Cami 2 ; McGrath, Maygen 1 ; Curtis, Kendall 1 ; Ontiveros, Elise 1 ; Klucewich, Jaxie 1
HBP: McGrath, Maygen 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
0
AB
2
R
2
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
P
/ SoftballINF
/ Softball
INF
/ Softball
OF
/ SoftballINF
/ SoftballOF
/ Softball
OF
/ SoftballINF
/ Softball
OF
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