2024 Montana spring sport champions

The Manhattan Tigers won their first state softball title May 25, 2024 in Billings by defeating Shepherd and in honor of former teammate Delaney Doherty. 

“Everyone heard us say it, but we proved that that’s what we did for the entire season,” senior pitcher Emma Kabalin said. “We proved it to everyone that we were playing for D the whole time. We did the whole thing for her.”

After the tournament was condensed to two days due to heavy rains on Thursday, Manhattan had to win five loser-out games after falling to Shepherd 12-0 in the second round on Friday afternoon. The Tigers won one elimination game on Friday and four on Saturday, the final two against Shepherd. They came through with an 11-8 win in the first championship contest to force a winner-take-all game in the double-elimination tournament. They prevailed again, winning 6-1 for the championship.

The Tigers put together a 25-6 record this season while playing their home games on what is now dubbed the Delaney Doherty Diamond. Doherty, who died in a car accident before the year, would have been a senior on the team.

The second-place state trophy is the first of any kind for Shepherd since it placed third in 2022. Florence (19-9) also earned its first state trophy since 2022, when it won the crown, by taking third.