Photo by: Tommy Martino/UM Athletics
Montana opens exhibition schedule on Sunday
9/23/2022 4:25:00 PM | Softball
The Montana softball team will kick off its four-date fall exhibition schedule when it hosts Providence on Sunday afternoon at Grizzly Softball Field in Missoula.
The Grizzlies and Argos will play a doubleheader, with the first game starting at 1 p.m.
Montana is scheduled to play games on Saturday, Oct. 1, Sunday, Oct. 2, and Saturday, Oct. 8, with the particulars within those dates still being finalized.
The Grizzlies went 20-27 last spring and finished sixth in the Big Sky Conference to qualify for their sixth consecutive postseason.
Montana returns all of the pitchers who saw action last season – Maggie Joseph, Allie Brock and Dana Butterfield – and added freshman Grace Haegele, the MaxPreps Washington Player of the Year last spring at Redmond High.
Gone are last season's primary players at catcher (McKenna Tjaden), first base (Cami Sellers), third base (Kylie Becker) and shortstop (Maygen McGrath).
The Grizzlies lost starter Brooklyn Weisgram from the outfield, meaning plenty of positions are available for the taking, and that will be one of the more intriguing elements of the fall season to follow.
One position of note is shortstop, which has been filled in the eight years of the program by just two players: Delene Colburn, now in her first year as an assistant coach with the Grizzlies, and Maygen McGrath. Both were all-region performers.
Sellers was a four-year starter at first base, Becker a four-year starter at third base.
"As we see new faces in new places, they'll bring a lot of excitement for our fans," said sixth-year coach Melanie Meuchel.
"I'm just really excited for the grit, the scrappiness, the toughness this team has shown in the first three weeks of practice. They are coming together to play as a full team, and they have a lot of excitement and emotion behind them."
This year's senior class is made up of Joseph, Julie Phelps, Jaxie Klucewich and Kendall Curtis.
Phelps is a mainstay in the outfield, one of the Big Sky's best in center. Curtis started last year at second base, Klucewich in left field. Klucewich finished out the year at second base when Curtis was shelved for more than a month with an injury.
Klucewich's move to the infield in March opened the door for Elise Ontiveros to take over the position in left field.
Presley Jantzi, an outfielder, was one of Montana's top hitters last spring as a freshman batting mainly in the designated player position, with Riley Stockton starting more than one-third of Montana's games behind the plate.
In addition to Haegele, Meuchel brought in three other freshmen, Breiana Bonkavich, who can play either the infield or the outfield, and Chloe Saxton and Makena Strong, both infielders.
Providence went 6-34 last season, including 10-1 and 10-4 losses at Montana in March. The Argos, at 4-26, tied for 10th in the Cascade Collegiate Conference, one of the nation's top NAIA leagues for softball.
The Grizzlies and Argos will play a doubleheader, with the first game starting at 1 p.m.
Montana is scheduled to play games on Saturday, Oct. 1, Sunday, Oct. 2, and Saturday, Oct. 8, with the particulars within those dates still being finalized.
The Grizzlies went 20-27 last spring and finished sixth in the Big Sky Conference to qualify for their sixth consecutive postseason.
Montana returns all of the pitchers who saw action last season – Maggie Joseph, Allie Brock and Dana Butterfield – and added freshman Grace Haegele, the MaxPreps Washington Player of the Year last spring at Redmond High.
Gone are last season's primary players at catcher (McKenna Tjaden), first base (Cami Sellers), third base (Kylie Becker) and shortstop (Maygen McGrath).
The Grizzlies lost starter Brooklyn Weisgram from the outfield, meaning plenty of positions are available for the taking, and that will be one of the more intriguing elements of the fall season to follow.
One position of note is shortstop, which has been filled in the eight years of the program by just two players: Delene Colburn, now in her first year as an assistant coach with the Grizzlies, and Maygen McGrath. Both were all-region performers.
Sellers was a four-year starter at first base, Becker a four-year starter at third base.
"As we see new faces in new places, they'll bring a lot of excitement for our fans," said sixth-year coach Melanie Meuchel.
"I'm just really excited for the grit, the scrappiness, the toughness this team has shown in the first three weeks of practice. They are coming together to play as a full team, and they have a lot of excitement and emotion behind them."
This year's senior class is made up of Joseph, Julie Phelps, Jaxie Klucewich and Kendall Curtis.
Phelps is a mainstay in the outfield, one of the Big Sky's best in center. Curtis started last year at second base, Klucewich in left field. Klucewich finished out the year at second base when Curtis was shelved for more than a month with an injury.
Klucewich's move to the infield in March opened the door for Elise Ontiveros to take over the position in left field.
Presley Jantzi, an outfielder, was one of Montana's top hitters last spring as a freshman batting mainly in the designated player position, with Riley Stockton starting more than one-third of Montana's games behind the plate.
In addition to Haegele, Meuchel brought in three other freshmen, Breiana Bonkavich, who can play either the infield or the outfield, and Chloe Saxton and Makena Strong, both infielders.
Providence went 6-34 last season, including 10-1 and 10-4 losses at Montana in March. The Argos, at 4-26, tied for 10th in the Cascade Collegiate Conference, one of the nation's top NAIA leagues for softball.
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