MISSOULA — Columbia Falls is set to compete for its first trophy at the high school baseball state tournament later today.
The Wildcats (17-3) secured a spot in the third-place game by defeating Belgrade, 10-9, in extra innings in a loser-out game on Saturday morning. They will go up against the winner of Butte vs. Eureka at 4 p.m. on Saturday at Ogren-Allegiance Park.
The championship game is scheduled for 6:30 p.m., featuring Bitterroot rivals Florence-Carlton and Hamilton. This will be the first time both teams will be competing in the title game.
Columbia Falls 10, Belgrade 9, loser-out
Dayne Tu came through with a walk-off single to center field that brought AC Chilson home from second base with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning in the loser-out game on Saturday morning.
Chilson had tied the game at 9-9 by driving in Cody Schweikert with a one-out double to right field. Schweikert, who is an Montana Grizzlies football signee, had started the inning with a walk against relief pitcher Gage Banks.
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This marked the third consecutive inning that the Wildcats had overcome a deficit after leading 5-1 through three frames. They tied the game at 6-6 with one run on an error in the sixth, added two runs in the seventh on sacrifice flies by Reggie Sapa and Kellen Kroger to make it 8-8, and sealed the win with two runs in the eighth.
Belgrade had briefly taken the lead at 9-8 in the top of the eighth inning when Landon Wanders drew a one-out walk, advanced on an error, reached third on a wild pitch, and scored on Sawyer Olson’s sacrifice bunt against reliever Kroger.
Columbia Falls ended with 13 hits compared to Belgrade’s 10. The Panthers made four errors to the Wildcats’ three, resulting in six unearned runs.
Belgrade (15-5) finished with a 1-2 record at the state tournament after finishing third last season.
Frank Gogola is the Senior Sports Reporter at the Missoulian and 406 MT Sports. Follow him on X @FrankGogola or email him at frank.gogola@406mtsports.com.
