HELENA — The Helena Capital softball team “didn’t play its best” on Saturday, according to longtime coach Mike Miller. But the Bruins had already clinched the No. 1 seed in the Western AA prior to the weekend’s nonconference losses against Billings West. With the top seed in the league, Capital received a bye to the upcoming State AA tournament in Helena beginning on May 24.
The Bruins finished 12-0 in the Western AA and 16-3 overall, with losses against undefeated Great Falls High and Saturday’s sweep at the hands of West.
Missoula Sentinel (9-3 in Western AA) grabbed the league’s No. 2 seed and will host rival Missoula Hellgate this week in the playoffs. The Knights finished the conference schedule 1-11 overall.
Kalispell Glacier’s 7-5 conference record earned the Wolfpack the third seed and a home playoff series against rival Kalispell Flathead. The Bravettes finished the season 2-10 in league play.
No. 4-seed Helena High will host Missoula Big Sky in the other Western AA playoff series. The Bengals posted a league record of 7-5, while the Eagles were 4-8.
Each playoff series will be a best-of-three, with the first team to win two games advancing to the state tournament at Batch Fields in the Capital City. Dates and times for the playoff series were being finalized this weekend.
The Eastern AA playoff schedule was set earlier in the week and can be found by clicking here.