Sentinel spring sports – baseball, track, and tennis – started in late March, and even though it feels like no time has passed at all, they are all getting ready to play in their divisional and state games.
Montana sports have been heavily affected this year by extreme weather that has caused multiple delays for all sports. Despite this, the teams have pushed through and fought their way to be a threat in their brackets.
Baseball
This is the Sentinel baseball team’s second year of being a unified team, and they truly have grown a lot since last spring.
They are second out of five teams in the Class AA West region with four wins and two losses. In the Montana baseball standings as a whole, Sentinel is ninth out of 42 teams with six wins and five losses.
The best games for the team during the regular season came from the fourth week of the season. The team played Glacier on April 17th and won with a score of 15-0. The team does not have posted individual stats, but they do have the score for each innings. Sentinel got their runs from the first three innings, with there being eight in the first, six in the second, and one in the third.
The next game was on April 18th against Corvallis, and they won again with a score of 15-0. Sentinel also didn’t post their stats for this game, as well as their run game from the first three innings. They had five in the first inning, seven in the second inning, and three in the third inning.
Sentinel will play their first state game on Thursday, May 28th, in Butte.
Track
Track has had an unusual season because of all the weather cancellations. Some sports reschedule their games when they get canceled, but track didn’t reschedule what should have been a 12-meet season to a 9-meet season.
This includes special meets like top ten-only where the top ten runners in the West for each event compete, the freshmen invite-only where freshmen get to run, and a few jv only meets.
Despite most of the team only getting four or five meets in the regular season, the athletes have been making the most of it.
Jayson McLennan is a senior long jumper who pre-qualified for state at the Greg Rice City meet. This is McLennan’s first year doing track, and he jumped a one-foot and four inch personal record (pr), giving him a new jump of 21’.2.5” which is 2.5 inches over the class AA qualifying standards.
Mia Swartz is a junior who has been to state track and field since her freshman year. She specializes in 400 meters (m, 200m, 4x100m relay, and the 4x400m relay. This year she ran a 1:00.56 minute in the 400m at top ten to take fourth and qualify for state. Her pr is 59.35 seconds in the 400m, which is the score she got last year at state. Track divisionals will take place on Friday, May 21st, in Helena, and the State will be hosted in Missoula at the MCPS stadium on May 28th, 29th, and 30th.
Softball
The softball team has been dominating and fighting to get back to the state championship all season. They are second in the West with 11 wins and three losses. This puts them only two losses behind the Glacier, who is in first with 13 wins and one loss. In all of Montana high school softball, which consists of 17 teams, Sentinel is ranked third with 18 wins and three losses.
The team’s best games were in weeks six and seven. In week six, they played and won by ten runs with a final score of 20-10. Senior Alyssa Hanninen was the leader for the team in runs, with her scoring 5 runs in game two, of those being home runs. She also had a batting average of .800.
During week seven, they played cross-town rivals, Hellgate, and won by ten points with a final score of 15-5. Junior Payton Taylor was the leader for scoring this game, with her having three runs and a batting average of .667.
The softball team has been on top of its game all season, and it wouldn’t be a surprise if they make a run at state. Class AA State softball will take place at Fort Missoula on May 28th, 29th, and 30th.
Baseball, track, and softball athletes have given it their all this spring season, and even with the hurdle of chaotic weather, they have achieved major victories. It will be interesting to see what each team and individual athletes will do at the state tournament, but no matter the outcome Sentinel will be proud of the work they have done.
