Ally Hilton comes up big in senior night sweep for Ennis softball

The Ennis softball team swept the final home double header of the season with a come from behind 6-5 win and a 22-7 win on April 29 at Bus Barn Field. The team had already secured a spot in the divisional playoff with their win at home against Three Forks the week before. 

Catcher Ruby Boggus went three for three with an RBI and scored  three runs to lead the Ennis offense in the 6-5 win. Senior shortstop Ally Hilton scored twice and went one for two with a walk. Pitcher Adi Wood dialed up 10 strikes and only allowed five runs on five hits with six walks. She pitched all seven innings for the Mustangs. 

Rain threatened on the horizon in the top of the fifth inning in game one of the double header. Ennis had clawed back from an early deficit to tie the game at 4-4. Anaconda’s standout pitcher and hitter Brynn Coughlin stepped to the plate and drilled a solo home run over the left-center field fence, likely the hardest hit ball at Bus Barn Field this year, to give Anaconda a five to four lead. 

Wood stepped back on the mound after Coughlin’s bomb and took matters into her own hands with a strike out followed by an infield pop out to end the inning. Coughlin returned to the mound and worked to hold the lead for Anaconda through the bottom of the fifth. 

Kayzli Ostler came up with two sharp defensive plays at third base in the top of the sixth and the Mustangs went into the bottom of the sixth inning still trailing by one. 

Hilton stepped to the plate to lead off the inning with a well hit ball to the shortstop was too much for the Anaconda defense. She represented the tying run at first before a stand up steal of second base put her in scoring position. 

Hilton scored on a Boggus triple to tie the game. Coughlin, rumored to throw 58 miles per hour, struck out eighth grader Mykayla Matson before giving up a RBI double to Addi Rowe that put Ennis in the lead. Freshman Kahryn Vaudrin came in to pinch hit and powered a ball into the outfield, she would eventually end up at third base but Rowe was called out on a disputed call at the plate that kept the Ennis lead at 6-5. Coughlin struck out the final Ennis batter and took her team to the top of the seventh down by just a run. 

Anaconda showed intent to play small ball to manufacture the tying run with third baseman Josie Mckelvy bunting to get on base with no outs. Wood struck out shortstop Averie Sandoval for out number one. During a battle between Wood and left fielder Grace Mehrens, Mckelvy was thrown out stealing second by Boggus whose point perfect throw down was handled flawlessly by Hilton in what was likely the play of the game for Ennis. 

Mehrens worked the count to three balls two strikes before drawing the walk from Wood putting the tying run on base with Coughlin returning to the plate. She protested when Wood and the Mustangs chose to issue an intentional walk rather than giving her the opportunity to make contact again. 

With runners on first and second, left handed hitter Jaiden Holdaway came to the plate for Anaconda. She ripped a hard bouncing ball up the middle but second baseman Jaycee Funke was up to the task and calmly stepped on second base to record the third out and the win for the Mustangs. The weather held long enough for the Mustangs to earn a 22-7 win in five innings in the second game of the double header. 

UPDATE

The Mustangs lost both games on their May 3 road trip to the Missoula area. Florence-Carlton defeated Ennis 12-1 and MAC put up a 13-3 win to drop the Mustangs to 10-6 on the season. The team will finish out the regular season on May 9 with a long road trip to face Eureka and Troy.