HELENA — With the high school softball regular season officially in the books, the Helena Capital Bruins now have the chance to make their second state tournament in three years.
Capital defeated crosstown rival Helena 7-6 in extra innings Saturday to clinch its spot in the Class AA state tournament play-in round. The crosstown regular-season finale was an elimination game for both teams.
“They’ve shown their resiliency. They work hard as a team,” Capital coach Ashten Broadhead said of this year’s Bruins. “They’ve seen adversity. They know how to get through some of those tough situations. So, I’m feeling pretty confident in where we’re at at the end of the year here, and anything we might face in this postseason.”
Making a run back to the postseason is especially meaningful for the Bruins’ seniors, who understand every game could be their last from here on out.
“As Bruins, we are meant to be past the regular season,” senior outfielder Jaiden Grooms said. “And I think going into this postseason game, we’re even more determined to win. I mean, we won state a couple years ago — I think we’re ready to be back in the talk of who’s going to win.”
Two of the seniors on this year’s team were part of Capital’s 2024 state title run under previous coach Mike Miller. One of those players is third baseman Ali Miller, who said the team can lean on that tournament experience.
“I was a part of the state champ team in 2024, and I know what that experience is like, and I know how fun it can be,” Miller said. “So, I want to take these girls as far as we can go. Reminding kids to be calm, have fun — it’s supposed to be fun. When you make it bigger than it is, that’s when you put too much pressure on yourself.”
Capital plays at Butte on Thursday with a state-tournament berth up for grabs. As the visiting team, Capital will need to win two games over Butte to advance.
