Polson's baseball team delivered a thrilling performance Friday, edging out Frenchtown 3-1 in a tightly contested high school matchup that had fans on the edge of their seats until the final out.
The game-changing moment came in the bottom of the sixth inning when Paxson DuMont stepped up to the plate and smashed a go-ahead single, scoring Holden Emerson. Emerson had reached base earlier in the inning on an error, which also helped Polson (8-5) knot the game at one run apiece.
Frenchtown (12-2) struck first in the third inning when Jordan Warner crossed home plate on an error, taking an early 1-0 lead. But Polson's Cole Wadsworth proved to be a wall on the mound, pitching a complete seven-inning game while allowing just five hits and striking out five batters.
On the other side, Frenchtown's Dawson Rodoni matched the intensity with a complete game of his own, fanning 10 batters and surrendering only five hits. Polson added an insurance run in the sixth when Noah Agliano scored on another error, sealing the victory.
In other action around the state, Columbia Falls' Zeke Dunn delivered a masterful performance, tossing five no-hit innings while also driving in two runs at the plate. The Wildcats (9-3) exploded for six runs in the third inning, highlighted by Tristian Victor's two-run double to center field that scored Lincoln Fisher and Nico Young, making it 7-0. Dunn added another run in the fourth with a double to left that brought Jace Hill home. He finished with eight strikeouts and five walks, while the game ended after five innings due to the run rule. Michael Koskela went four innings for the Red Devils (0-9), striking out three.
Over in Eureka, Libby held off a late rally to win a Kootenai Valley showdown, thanks to Ian Thom's three RBIs. The Loggers (5-5) jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the first inning, fueled by five walks and two hit batsmen, with Hunter Rooney and Kale Riddle both singling. Bransen Holzer tripled and Boe Miles doubled in the fifth to restore a six-run lead at 10-4. Eureka (6-4) fought back with bases-loaded walks in the fifth to cut the deficit to 10-8, but Thom answered with a crucial bases-loaded triple in the sixth to extend the lead to 13-8. Emmet McKim blasted a three-run homer in the seventh for the Lions, but Dalton Cannon came on in relief and shut it down with three straight outs for Libby.
Finally, in Florence, Chase Wagner was the star of the day, hitting three home runs and driving in nine runs over a doubleheader sweep for Frenchtown. Wagner kicked things off with a two-run homer in the second inning of Game 1, then added two more RBIs on a first-inning single to push the score to 9-0. It was a day to remember for the Falcons' slugger.