Tuesday's Crosstown showdown belonged to one player: Ava Grady. The Glacier High School sophomore delivered a performance that coaches dream about, going 3-for-4 at the plate with four RBIs while tossing four no-hit innings in the circle to lead the Wolfpack past Flathead 11-4.
Grady was firing on all cylinders, striking out eight batters and walking just one. "I just took it pitch-by-pitch and tried to make a play for my team," she said. "My arm felt pretty good today."
The Bravettes came out swinging early, jumping to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first on RBI doubles from Tegan Strauss and Olivia Nyman. But Grady answered in the bottom half, tying the game with a triple to the right-field fence.
Flathead regained the lead in the second on Sophia Torgison's single, making it 3-2. "We battled. I was really proud of how we came out of the gate," Bravettes coach Brittany Burnham said. "Right off the bat we had a great approach at the plate."
The turning point came in the third inning when Glacier erupted for three runs, highlighted by Sophia Frederick's RBI single, to take a 5-4 lead. The Wolfpack bats stayed hot, and after a pair of quiet frames, they exploded in the sixth with seven straight singles, plating six runs to put the game out of reach at 11-4.
"We couldn't get our bats rolling until late," Wolfpack coach Gary Evans admitted. "We were hitting the ball well, we just couldn't find the grass." Frederick finished 3-for-3 with two RBIs, while Olivia Warriner started in the circle for Glacier, allowing four runs in two-plus innings before Grady took over.
Joslyn Crofts closed the door in the seventh, striking out three Bravettes to seal the win. The victory improves Glacier to 11-3 on the season, while Flathead drops to 4-10.
Both teams now head on the road for a Saturday doubleheader against Helena and Helena Capital starting at noon—a chance for the Wolfpack to build momentum and the Bravettes to keep pushing forward. "We are heading in the right direction in these last two weeks of the season," Burnham said.