KELSO —The Bulldogs thwarted a late rally and overcame three Highlanders home runs en route to an impressive 7-5 road victory on Monday.

Monte (13-1, 7-0 Evergreen 1A) got on the board with a two-run double off the bat of Lindsay Pace in the first inning.

The Bulldogs doubled their lead to 4-0 in the second, when Pace lined a two-run single into right field to score Abi Parkin and Maddie Ekerson.

Aftter Peyton Poler singled in Parkin and Pace in the top of the sixth inning, Montesano held a comfortable 7-1 lead.

But Kelso, which is 14-2 overall and leading the 3A Greater St. Helen’s League, stormed back in the bottom of the sixth when they scored five runs, capped by back-to-back home runs by Capri Franzen and Hailey Parsons, to make it a 7-5 ballgame.

But Pace worked around a leadoff single in the bottom of the seventh by inducing a double play followed by a pop out to end the game.

Monte starting pitcher Samantha Stanfield shut down the vaunted Kelso lineup, allowing just one hit — a fourth inning home run to Parsons — while striking out 11 in five innings of work.

Montesano 220 012 0 — 7 11 2

Kelso 000 104 0 — 5 6 2

WP — S. Stanfield (5 IP, H, 11 K); LP — Holt (5 IP, 8 H, 5 ER, 2K, 2 BB)

Leading Hitters: M — Pace (2-3, 2B, 4 RBI), Parkin (3-4, 3 R), Ekerson (2-4, 2 R), Poler (2-4, 2 RBI). K — Parsons (2-3, 2 HR, 2 RBI), Franzen (1-3, HR, 2 RBI)