HELENA, Mont. – The Carroll College softball team takes the field for start of the Cascade Conference season Friday and Saturday against the University of Great Falls at Highland South Park in Great Falls.
The Saints enter the weekend having played just three games while the Argos have six games under their belts. Carroll is 1-2 while UGF is 6-0. The Saints originally had six games on their slate prior to conference play, but a rainstorm in Southern California forced the Saints to cancel two days of their three-day trip.
Head coach
Aaron Jackson was on the verge of getting a double header against a regional opponent, but again weather nixed the plans.
The Saints tallied a handful of outside practices over the last two weeks, but most of the work has come in the gym. The stakes are high in Great Falls, a good showing against their rivals could propel the Carroll into the Cascade season on an upswing.
"We are excited to get the conference season started," Jackson said. "It has been a brutal start to the year weather wise, and we are at a point where we just need to play games. UGF is our biggest rival, and it will be a great way to open up conference play."
The Argos had a strong showing at the Presentation College Invitational, sweeping all six opponents, including an extra inning 4-3 win over College of Saint Mary (Neb).
Paige Bodner leads the team with a .600 batting average, and Kylie Gonzales has a team-high 10 RBIs. Kristina George has a perfect 0.00 ERA with 10.1 innings under her belt.
In limited action, the Saints are led by
Courtney Cloud with three RBIs.
Tess Eaton and
Courtney Schroeder both have a 0.00 ERA.
"If we can commit play with great effort, attitude, and energy it will be a great opening weekend," Jackson said. "This starts a nine-week grind to the conference championship, and we are ready to get going."
The first three games of the four-game weekend will count as conference games. The final will be a non-conference game.
The games are slated for 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. Friday. Saturday's games were moved to a 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. start to avoid early morning cool temperatures.
