Butte High JV tops Sentinel JV twice in softball

Butte High thwarted Missoula Sentinel hopes twice Monday with a pair of two-run wins in high school junior varsity girls’ softball at Stodden Park.
The Butte High jayvees swept the doubleheader by 6-4 and 10-8.
Eighth-grader Kendallyn Schad starred in the 6-4 win with a two-run double to put her team ahead in the fifth inning and pitching a complete game with 16 strikeouts.
“I want to give a shoutout to Kendallyn Schad,” Butte coach Kelly Ferriter said. “She battled through adversity in the first inning and was able to dial it in after that, throwing a complete game and 16 k’s.”
The Butte team won with five hits, including singles by Mattie Stepan, Gracie Jonart, Brittyn Klima and Keeley Johnston to go with Schad’s double. Stepan and Klima each knocked in a run.
The Sentinel JV was held to four hits, three by Alyssa Hanninen, including a triple.
The second game saw the Butte High JV build a nine-run lead and then held on for the 10-8 win. A seven-run fifth inning was huge for Butte High and included run-scoring hits by Avery Barsness, Johnston and Stepan. Allie Becker batted in a run with a groundout.
Ally Godbout was the winning pitcher. All of the Butte hits were singles. Stepan had two of them and knocked in two runs. Kylie Jaksha and Johnston each drove in a run.
Sentinel narrowed the gap with six runs in the fifth, including RBI singles by Eden Gilder and Jazmyne Lafromboise, a run-scoring double by Kai Gillis and an RBI groundout by Piper Whitman.
“I was proud of the girls today,” Ferriter said. “I challenged to have more energy and excitement, and I could feel that today. They were able to close the door and finish both games out.”