KALISPELL — The Kalispell Glacier Wolfpack are once again heading into the Class AA state softball tournament as the top seed in the West.
And this young group of sluggers is looking to take its high-powered offense to a second straight championship.
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With a new head coach and multiple seniors having graduated from last year's championship roster, head coach Gary Evans was surprised when a fresh crop of underclassmen led the team to a 13-1 conference record.
“We won a lot of close games, where when you have some young athletes, sometimes those close games are the ones you don't come out ahead in,” Evans said. “And so they just don't give up.”
However, the team did have some early season growing pains, losing consecutive games at a critical point in the season.
But catcher Emma Smith said the team chose not to fold, and the players held each other accountable.
“We took two tough losses, and after that, we kind of just sat down as a team after the games, and we were like, 'What is going on?'” Smith said. “Since then, the chemistry on and off the field again has been so great.”
Now, Glacier is entering the season with one of the most dominating pitching staffs in the state, led by Ava Grady and Olivia Warriner.
Grady said the team has focused on getting its wins by playing stout defense behind its two pitchers.
“I think they help a lot, just like backing me up and just making an out, even if I might not make a good pitch, and like just back me up," Grady said.
The Wolfpack have to wait over a week to play in the state tournament, but it is clear they will use that time to keep working toward another potential championship season.
“I put out a scenario where we might be able to take a day off, and I was looked at as if I was from Mars,” Evans said. “They're like, 'Oh no, we are not going to take a day off. We've got something ahead of us.' So that's very good to see from a coach that athletes want to be here, they want to practice, they want to try to get better as we move towards the state tournament.”
