Duel in the circle

The first time Glacier and Missoula Big Sky met it was a 12-9 shootout, but Thursday’s meeting was a pitchers duel. Olivia Warriner threw five scoreless innings and Ava Grady added a pair and the Wolfpack held off the Eagles for a 1-0 victory at Glacier High School. “They are both very important to this team; that is how we roll is in the circle,” Glacier coach Gary Evans said of his two pitchers.

“Having them show what they showed today gives us a lot of confidence going into the second half. ” The lone run of the day for Glacier (10-3) came in the fifth as Sophia Frederick led off the frame with a single, followed by a Tensley Conner double — both on the first pitch they faced. Addy Cunningham then stepped in and sent a sacrifice fly out to Briella Wilson in right field, scoring Frederick.

Eagles (9-4) pitcher Peyton Walters then worked a groundout and flyout to make sure Conner was stranded at third. Warriner allowed just one hit in her five innings of work — a fourth-inning double to Sara Bjornson, who was left on third after Warriner snagged a hard-hit line drive to end the frame. “We had great defense today, a couple miscues, but nothing that cost us,” Evans said.

“We haven’t been in a 1-0 game this year, we have scored a lot of runs. But this was a real softball game against a good team. ” Warriner faced a jam in the second after walking two batters, but she worked out of it thanks to another line drive grab that led to a double play at first.